Wicked 2
by Ezra.J.Clarke
Summary: Post Wicked the musical, some mix of book characters and objects and a slight change of plot. Glinda is ruling Oz after the events of Wicked. She runs it for five years before Dorothy arrives back in Oz, claiming that the Wicked Witch of the West is not only alive, but living in the human world. Little bit of a slow burn. Gelphie and more Gelphie. Little bit of angst.
1. Chapter 1 - Happily Ever After

**Chapter One**

 **Happily Ever After**

 _Dear Glinda,_

 _Do what you have to, regardless, my sweet. The last thing I want is for you to be shunned, as much as I may miss you, it's not safe. Besides, you wouldn't be able to bring your wardrobe with you if you did and we both know you couldn't live with that._

Tears stained the page as Glinda read and reread the letter signed with her favorite letters rolled into a single name, Elphie. Her breath hitched in her throat and she tried her best to swallow another sob. Her blue eyes were highlighted by a red background. Her hands were shaking as she held just one of few letters over a desk. The room was frigid as ice and silent. She was in the library of the castle - the only room she could find that wasn't within an earshot of the Celebration of the Wicked Witch of the West's death. The irony. Tears dropped off her water striped face only to disappear in the blue of her dress. The puffy edges of the dress huddled around her as she sat, as if to comfort her in a nest of sorts. The surrounding library swallowed her whole and she couldn't help but wonder what it would've been like to show Elphaba the castle archives.

"Miss Glinda?" It was the guard posted outside of the door, "it's time."

Glinda huffed a shaking breath in, as if to pull all of her emotions back up. She wiped her red face of it's streaks and stood up, somehow finding strength enough for her legs to carry her. She sniffed and folded the letters back up, slipping them into the hem of her dress. She smiled at the guard and told him she'd be right out. She had much to tell Oz and she was without words to describe everything that happened in so little time. First of the so called Wicked Witch's death and then of the wizard's leaving and Morrible's emprisonnement. Elphie's words repeated themselves in her mind.

 _Promise me, Promise me, you won't try to clear my name._

It was a promise Glinda now regretted. Without anyone in Oz to protest her truth, how could she keep such a secret? But how could she protest Elphie's dying wish? Would the people of Oz still hate Elphaba if they knew? Could she make such a radical change, now being the ruler of Oz? How could she run a country when she could hardly stand up for Elphie, oh dear Elphie. The thoughts crossed her mind and shook her head, almost as if she could shake the thoughts out of her mind and never think of them again. Glinda left the library with an echo as the door slammed shut in the vastness of the castle halls.

Two guards escorted her down the hall, both of which had masks which covered the entirety of their faces, masking even their race from her view. Glinda couldn't help but wonder if that's how it should be in Oz moving forward, as if race did not exist and each species was made the same. She would surely lift the Animal Bans and ensure they be treated just as equal as every other race. As she walked, her silver heels clicked against the stone floor and it was the only sound made between the three of them. As they closed in on the balcony she would address the public from, Glinda decided that she would do only what Elphie would if she were still there. She would protect the citizens and tell them the truth. She would from that moment earn the title Glinda the Good. For Elphie's sake.

Glinda approached the glass balcony doors and she could hear the chanting, singing, and carrying on. Her heart sank. Even if she did tell them the story, how could they understand that everything they have been told of Elphaba Thropp is a lie? If that's a lie, they are bound to wonder why which would only lead Glinda to tell them about the Wizard and Morrible. How could she possibly go about it? She never wanted to be a politician. Popular, sure. She wanted to matter to someone and now she was cursed with mattering to everyone.

The two guards opened the doors on either side of the blonde and Glinda fixed her tiara a top her head as she stepped forward. The guard on her left handed her wand out to her and she thanked him, then peered upon the Emerald City before her. The crowd faltered slightly and the cheers quieted. One gilikenese man announced her to the crowd and said, "Look, it's Glinda!" And it was quiet. Another in the crowd, asked, "Is it really her? It is, it is her! Glinda! We love you Glinda!"

Glinda smiled down on them and transported herself in a bubble to come closer from the height of the castle. She slipped down to them and floated about. She smiled, despite every piece of her body despising the physical motion which did not properly reflect her feelings. Her heart felt as if it was suffocating in her chest when she saw the pitchforks in their hands, torches lighting the path. She smiled and put on the facade she had for the past few years of her life, "it's good to see me isn't it?" A few answered honestly and Glinda continued, "No need to respond, that was rhetorical."

Elphaba's words repeated themselves over and over In her head.

 _Promise Me…_

"Fellow Ozians." Glinda swallowed and used her best proclamation voice, "Let us be glad. Let us be Grateful. Let us rejoice to find that Goodness can subdue the wicked workings of, you know who." She took a breath and all eyes were sticking to the bubble as it moved across the sky, "Isn't it nice to know - that good will conquer evil. The truth we all believe'll by and by outlive a lie for you and-" Her words were cut off by a woman in the crowd, cheering vein-fully.

"No one mourns the wicked!" She was cheered on by the crowd. "No one cries, they won't return!" Other joined in with their own accounts of the Wicked.

Glinda tried to rear them off the terrible thoughts, tried to tell them about how lonely a life in Wickedness must be. Then another in the crowd asked Glinda, because surely Glinda the Good would know, why wickedness happens. The voice in the crowd, while Glinda couldn't quite pinpoint where it came from, sounded afraid. Glinda couldn't think of the best way to answer the question, but to returned it with another question, "That's a good question. Are people born wicked? Or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?" All of a sudden Glinda felt the lies built up beneath her words and she wanted to leave. She wanted to start over. She had just promised herself not to lie to this crowd and here she was, pretending everything was fine. Could she ever break this facade? Could she defy people looking to her to make everything seem okay?

"So if there are no further questions.." Glinda finished the speech as quickly as she could, mentioning Elphaba's family, then returned to her bubble and to attempt an escape.

She began floating away when once again, a voice reached her ears, one that she guessed game from a young Quadling, "Glinda, is it true you were her friend?"

"Well, you see, um.. Yes." Glinda hardly had time to think about the words before they were coming out of her mouth. Gasps let out in waves through the crowd. Glinda could feel the piece of her who cared what they thought - the piece that once called herself Galinda - begging to come to the surface. At the same time, she felt that if she was going to revert to her previous self, then maybe she didn't deserve to be Elphaba's friend at all, "It depends on what you mean by _friend._ I did know her. That is, our paths did cross...at school." The crowd was still gasping and gawking at her, "But you must understand, it was a long time ago and we were both very young." The crowd was still quite, as if they were all five again, waiting for her to tell them a bedtime story. All at once they wanted to know and Glinda wanted to tell them.

So she did.

She told the crowd of Emerald City everything she could think of from the moment she met Elphaba Thropp, her roomate at Shiz university, to saying goodbye to Elphaba Thropp just hours before they gathered in the square together. She told them about Dr. Dillamond and the research he had dug up about the same sentience existing between Animals and Humans. She told them about going to see the Wizard and the Wizard not being at all who they thought he was. She told them about Madame Morrible and her offer for Glinda and Elphaba to be spies. The story took so long that the square had become a sitting location for them to stare at Glinda as she sat on the edge of a water fountain, recounting her past. Tears stung the edges of her eyes when she recounted Elphaba leaving Emerald City when the Wizard cast her out. A bear cub child reached out a paw and placed it on top of her hand and Glinda thanked him silently. A guard moved to push the cub away, but Glinda stopped him and shook her head.

Through the entire tale, the crowd quietly listened to Glinda and Glinda wondered if there was a reason they were inclined to. She recounted being forced to address Oz and encourage the Wizard's choices against the Wicked Witch and the Animals. She even told them of her engagement to Fiyero, which was a political marriage that she suggested simply to avoid the attention that was being placed on Elphaba. Then she told them of the end of her story, returning to Emerald City after her visit to Elphaba. When she addressed him and requested to know about the green bottle Elphaba kept under her pillow. When she requested that the Wizard leave with Dorothy and when she had Madame Morrible taken to prison. The only piece of the puzzle she left from the story was Elphaba's allergy to water, choosing to keep the horrible, painful details of Elphie's death from all of their thoughts.

When she was finished, the crowd only mumbled small condolences, as if realizing the error of their ways. One boy asked why she let Dorothy leave if she was the one to end Elphaba's life. With tears in her eyes, Glinda told him that violence would not justify anything and that Dorothy was a pawn in a much larger game. There was a few other questions in the crowd, but over all Glinda felt the shift. A burden lifted from her shoulders as she noticed the sympathy in their eyes. They had accepted her truth as a reality and felt bad for Elphaba's surprise. It was as if the crowd agreed on a moment of silence for the life they had lost.

Glinda cleared her throat and wiped her eyes clean, the only moment she didn't care about the makeup leaking down her cheekbones, "I think that this means that it's time for a change." She announced, her voice breaking though it still reached the farthest citizen from her, "I am starting with lifting the bans on Animals." The crowd agreed solemnly and she saw the family of bear cubs nearby, lifting their heads with a new kind of happiness, that is what Glinda thought was happiness from their expressions. She still wasn't very good at reading Animal expressions, "I'd also like, if you'd have me, to take a clean slate with you. I'd like for everyone to acknowledge the truth and I'd like to give the public a chance to voice their opinions about everything happening in Oz." Her speech continued and the citizen of Oz turned their sorrow into excited glances toward the future.

From that day on, Oz changed drastically. Glinda opened the doors of the castle for any grievances that Oz may have. She appointed counselors from even the farthest regions in Oz to represent themselves in Emerald City. She created a democracy for change. A statue was created in Elphaba's honor and despite Glinda's opposition, the citizens of Oz built a statue in her honor as well. Over the years Oz became a world of happiness and freedom. Glinda kept her reign over Oz in the best way she possibly could while keeping a promise to herself to be Glinda the Good. For five years, Glinda kept to herself and as proud as she was about the changes in Oz, she still grieved Elphaba's death. She grieved Elphaba's death until a day five years later, when a familiar face demanded Glinda allow her entrance to the castle.

Glinda was in the library again, which is where she spent most of her days, reading texts she knew Elphaba read in their years at Shiz. A few days after Elphaba's death and a day after the green girls vigil, guards brought her boxes of Elphaba's items. Books, spells, her hat. Glinda kept all things in her own memorial of sorts in the library, piled on her desk.

"Miss Glinda?" A guard asked and Glinda turned around to greet him. The guard was a mix of Vinkus and one other decent. He was a new boy to the guard, whom must've been only a few years older than the service of becoming a man in the Winkie Country. Glinda remembered Elphie telling her something of the warrior tradition that Vinkus had for them to spend a night alone with only a musical instrument to use to speak to the spirits. Glinda wondered if, with this mixture of races, he had been through such a tradition or if it was only saved for Vinkus warriors or royalty. He was a new member of the guard and though Glinda now made it her job to know everyone's name, his name was still alluding her.

"Yes, sir?" Glinda asked, a smile pulling at her lips, despite her request to be left alone when she is in the library. She figured he had not heard that yet in his training.

"Miss Glinda, I am so sorry to bother you but they asked me to retrieve you. T-There's a v-visitor." The boy scratched the back of his neck, his olive skin shining in the window light.

"A visitor?" Glinda requested, furrowing her brow, "From where?"

The guard licked his lips, "Forgive me, Miss Glinda, I don't recall. They told me to tell you her name. It was.." He thought for a moment to remember, "Dorothy."

Glinda rose and followed him immediately realizing the urgency of their visitor, "Show me."

She followed him down the hall, her simple green dress floating lightly behind them and the pink flower jumping with her steps. The guard in front of her wore the new uniform, less clunky and less authoritative. It was a gentle green outfit with a patch that told everyone that they were apart of the guard, but not quite made to intimidate a crowd. Glinda was proud she had designed it herself.

They reared the corner of another long hallway and entered the grand entrance to the castle, the one used to host citizens of Oz and hear their grievances. The grand doors were on her left when when they walked in and from them, a green carpet lead up the grand staircase, which split into the two halves of the castle, the east and west. On the landing between the west and east staircases was a long table and chairs around it, which the castle counselors used during the days they hosted the court of grievances. Just inside the doors, being held back by two guards on either side of her, was Dorothy in the flesh. She was fighting them to let her go and telling them that she knew Glinda - that they were friends.

"Let me go!" She screamed. When Glinda entered, the guards looked to her for approval. Glinda nodded just once and they released her. Dorothy, plaid dress and all, stumbled across the green carpet. She hardly kept her ground as she stood, glared at the guards, then looked back at Glinda. "Oh, Glinda." Dorothy smiled and walked up to the blonde, emphasising the ruby shoes highlighting her feet. Nessarose's shoes.

"Miss Dorothy." Glinda smiled cordially and raised a brow.

Suddenly Dorothy's eyes changed and her face turning from excitement to worry, "Oh, Glinda, I came back because I am worried. Glinda, she's back. The Wicked Witch is alive!"

Glinda furrowed her brow and her heart skipped a beat, "Miss Dorothy, what are you talking about?"

"She's back Glinda! She's changed but she's back! I saw her with my own two eyes, I did!" Dorothy continued, frantically.

Glinda tried not to get her hopes up, knowing she heard it with her own two ears. It wasn't possible. "Where?"

"My world, Miss Glinda. She's in my world."


	2. Chapter 2 - The Travel

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 **Chapter Two**

 **The Travel**

Glinda strapped her boots down and buttoned her winter vest as she sat on her bed. It was a strapping outfit, for not involving a dress that is. Her boots were tall, black, and fuzzy on the inside. The strings laced themselves halfway up her calf and she strapped the boss down under the Velcro at the top. Her pants were tan and emphasized the skinniness of her legs. She had a white undershirt on, which dove just enough to give a hint of her cleavage and on top of it she had a wool vest to cover. All cotton and wool in her outfit were surely from volunteer Animals, who offered their assistance or were paid for the shavings of their coats. Many Animal barber shops sold the spare fur in most recent years. Next to her she had a lovely pink hat which was though it wasn't long enough to cover her ears, pulled the whole outfit together. She brought earmuffs in case it got cold and black petite gloves as well.

Three of her best friends and boys she had attended Shiz with, stood above her and paced, some of whom had their arms folded. Crope was the one pacing back and forth in front of her walk in closet. He was one of her closest advisors and a friend whom had never lost touch after their college years. He was quite possibly her closest friend. His Fiance, Tibbett, stood next to him with his arms folded. They had been together since their graduation year from Shiz and Glinda was still surprised it took them that long to get engaged in the first place. Boq, a longtime friend who once held a crush for her former self, Galinda, sat quietly in the corner in contemplative thought.

"Are you seriously thinking doing this?" Crope repeated for the third time, "Trying to travel to another realm you know nothing about? It's ridiculous." Crope's forehead wrinkled the way it always had when Glinda did something against his advising, which seemed to be the only time he really spoke out. Most other times he was a silent partner for either her or Tibbett, walking next to them and listening to topics at hand. Today though, he was livid with reasons for Glinda not to go.

Glinda sighed and smiled at her dear friend. She crossed her legs as she spoke and folded her hands, waiting for him to finish. Then she said, "That's why I'll have Dorothy." It was a simple answer and Crope would not have it.

"Are you kidding? You're just going to leave Oz? You're the freaking Queen, Glinda. You can't just wander off." Tibbett, nodded but rubbed Crope's shoulders - not necessarily agreeing with him but not wanting to anger him anymore.

Glinda nodded and stood, "Crope, if this Country cannot function and last without me for a while, then I have not done my job correctly." She put an arm on his shoulder and Crope dropped his shoulders. "I just want you to be safe."

Glinda's smile faltered leaving a face of sudden nervousness, as if her courage melted away looking him in the eye. "I have to find her." She all but whispered.

Crope nodded and the other boys did too. Crope took her arms by her elbows, "I know." They shared a look between them and it was as if Crope could see all of the grieving Glinda had done for the past five years. She and the others knew how close Glinda and Elphaba had become, closer than any of the others could be too either girl.

Crope let her go and she slipped on the accessories she had left on the master bed. Tibbett grabbed the small duffel bag packed at the foot of the bed, "You'll be back before Lurlinemas?" He asked, shaking the bag and finding it a surprise how light it was.

Glinda bit her lip, "I'm not sure. I don't know where this land is and I'm not entirely sure how far We would have to travel to find Her. I thought I would be as safe as I could and pack light."

Boq smiled and snorted from behind them, which grabbed their attention, "Sorry, I-it's just. You have changed." Boq notes and Glinda couldn't help but giggle.

"I wouldn't have if it hadn't been for her."

"Your Majesty." A guard appeared from the hall and Glinda raised an eyebrow at the young Goat, "Sorry. Miss Glinda." He corrected, "Miss Dorothy wishes to know if you are ready to go."

"Yes, well. I guess it's time." She told the boys. Each of them hugged her. Crope and Tibbett hugging her first then Boq puking her in tight.

"You bring her back to us now." Boq whispered in her ear and Glinda nodded into his shoulder.

"Has she been brought up to speed, about Miss Elphie?" Glinda asked the guard.

"We told her about the Wizard's lies, Miss Glinda."

"Very Good."

Miss Glinda followed the guard to the front of the castle, to the center square of Emerald City. When she walked out, Dorothy waited patiently, smiling to Glinda when she walked out. "How did you arrive back in Oz, Miss Dorothy? Will you need magic to return?"

Dorothy looked down at her shoes, which Glinda recognized immediately. The ruby shoes of the previously known Eminent Thropp, Miss Nessarose. They were shoes that Glinda not only recognized, but had enchanted herself to help Nessarose walk and would later help Dorothy get home from Oz the first time - Followed By the Wizard and his balloon, "I think I can get us back just fine." Dorothy smiled.

Glinda nodded, "Do you know of the Wizard's whereabouts?" She asked, "Or Miss Elphaba's?" Speaking of Elphaba still brought a shiver to her shoulders.

Dorothy shook her head first, "the Wizard is not of any importance in my world. He lives his own life, no longer hurting anyone I assume. I am so sorry for his treachery and Miss Glinda I hope with all my heart I can beg for your forgiveness. I had no idea that the Witch-" she corrected, her shoulders slouched, "Elphaba-" The brunette didn't seem to be able to speak the rest.

Glinda held her free hand up, as if to stop the speech in its tracks, "There is no need to apologize, Miss Dorothy. You did not know. The Wizard manipulated you the same way he did the rest of us. Please, tell me, have you talked to Elphaba?"

Dorothy shifted and scratched at her arms, "I-I was too afraid to approach her. I was on a trip - in New York City. I just, I followed her. She went back to an apartment and I looked at her mail. It all said Elphie Thropp."

Glinda couldn't help but smile at the nickname, "Okay, will be going there? To this New York City? Will we have to travel?"

Dorothy took Glinda by her elbow, "If I think about it, I think I can bring us there instead."

Glinda nodded and they turned back to the guards, "I shouldn't be gone very long. I'll be back as soon as I can." They nodded and she closed her eyes. She heard Dorothy click her heels and she felt the warmth of magic grow in her hands. It spread up her arms and into her chest and before she knew it, there were sounds she had never heard before and smells that she would not recognize.

Glinda opened her eyes and around her, the city grew. The square panned out in front of them. Buildings looked like they were growing, long and high buildings - much bigger than they were in Emerald City. Glinda's blue eyes lit up with the sight and mirrored them back at the city. For a moment, as the world grew around her, she was mesmerized by the architecture. The curves and textures of the buildings. The way they hung in the skyline and floated among the clouds. They were all around her. All different kinds and sizes. Her eyebrows rose into rainbows and her heart was beating rapid fire. The magic in her chest fluttered as if it was getting stronger, then disappear all at once. She looked around again and saw the people of the new world she was in. They were dressed in different kinds of clothing she had never seen before. They were not as interesting looking at the people she had from her world, but still all types of skin. Snow was leaking from the clouds above and floating along the wind.

Glinda looked back at Dorothy, who seemed to be amused with Glinda's first experience of the human world, "It seems only right you know. You were there for my first trip to Oz."

Glinda couldn't help but smile, "This place is Beautiful." She refrained from telling Dorothy about her interest in architecture, fearing how the girl may treat her. As far as Glinda had come, slivers of Galinda still hid themselves in her head, "I wish we were visiting for a vacation instead."

"Maybe one day." Dorothy agreed, taking the lead down the busy side street. A few shoulders bumped Glinda along her way, men with briefcases and trench coats and women in long black and white dresses and short coats on top. It was different from her world, but not entirely unwelcoming, "Elphaba lives a few streets over from here I think." Dorothy continued.

Glinda thought about how impressive it was that the shoes brought them so close to Elphaba's location and wondered how it was so powerful. Could it be after all of that time the Enchantment she placed on those ruby shoes still lingered, or was it that Dorothy had power herself? Or maybe she just believed in power and they believing in power creates power. Glinda wished she could know more about magic and how it worked, regardless of how much she trained in it. She was still no closer to reading the Grimoire then she had been five years ago, when Elphaba left.

The words crossed through her mind over and over again. Elphaba Left. Five years ago, Elphaba made the decision to leave Glinda in Oz. Even worse, she left Glinda believe she was dead. Who would do that? Who would leave the one person, who cared so much about her - who absolutely adored and even loved -

That word hit her like a ton of bricks. Loved. It was the feeling she had for many years, one that she'd never put the word to. It dated back to the days during their years at Shiz and never wavered. The reason Glinda has mourned longer then anyone else, though she rationalized that she was Elphie's best friend. Still, that didn't change her feelings and she had a feeling that her friends from Shiz knew. It was probably the reason they knew she would have to make this journey to find Elphie in the first place.

Glinda loved Elphie. Loves.

Glinda let the words repeat themselves over in her head. She wanted to be happy about it. She was happy about it, though worried. She had many other things to worry about, her kingdom and Elphaba's return being the top of the priority list. She did not have time to be a giggly school girl in love with her best friend. She did not have time to admit these feelings and explain everything that has happened in Oz. Not to mention scream at the girl for letting Glinda believe she was dead in the first place.

Before she knew it, being so lost in thought, Dorothy had stopped in front of her. Glinda ran into her back and realized they were at a stop. She looked around and noticed Dorothy was staring at one of the taller buildings in City, which had balconies coming off it on every floor, "This is it?" Glinda asked before she could think the words through, probably sounding more poised then she should have. She could only wonder why Elphaba would insist on living here. Glinda would have much preferred her living with her in the castle.

Dorothy only nodded and walked up the brick steps in front of them. Glinda followed, more gracefully and slower. They took a few sets of stairs to the third floor and just like that they were at Elphaba Thropp's doorstep. A doorstep that Glinda could only guess to be miles - worlds - apart from the Emerald City castle. She tried to shake of the anger that boiled in her stomach, tried to rationalize why Elphaba left. The whole country hated her. You can't blame her. Though, that doesn't explain why she didn't tell me.

The two girls stood still at the front door, neither of them moving to knock. They stood there in the warm hallway for a few moments. In the meantime Dorothy pulled the mail from the box beside the door and showed it to Glinda. Sure enough, it read Elphie Thropp. Glinda smiled again at the nickname, enjoying that if anything, Elphaba might still think about her as well. Glinda took a deep breath that filled her lungs with the heat of her environment. She suddenly felt very nervous and in all of the chaos, she still hadn't come up with anything to tell Elphaba. How to tell Elphaba about everything that had happened in the last five years.

Finally, Glinda Upland stepped forward and knocked.


	3. Chapter 3 - The Encounter

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 **Chapter Three**

 **The Encounter**

Elphaba Thropp had been sitting on her window sill for over an hour without realizing it. She was thinking, which was something she did more than anything else in the world and she's skipped lunch again because of it. The city streets below her were glowing with citizens whether it be in motor vehicles or on their bikes. The city was in motion and most definitely in preparation for Christmas. The banners were hung on businesses and reefs were hanging off balconies up above. Some of the buildings lit up with the red and green colors, others red happy holidays on the light up signs. Elphaba, who had just recently caught eye of all the decorations, had wandered onto a few topics in her hour of thought.

The first was what season it was in Oz. Was it winter as it was in the human world? Would they be preparing for Lurlinemas by now? Would they be decorating Emerald City in more green and some gold? Would the city be the same as she remembered it or would it have changed a lot in the last five years that she had been gone? These thoughts made her move on and she wondered if anything had changed in Oz. It probably hadn't. She spent twenty years of her life there and nothing had changed in their government. It was neither impossible that something had made such an impact in only five years of time. The Animals were most likely still oppressed and the Wizard was most likely still in power. She had only hoped that Glinda hadn't given the Grimoire to him. There would be hell to pay if she had.

Then there was Glinda. More often than not the strawberry blonde arrived in her head and it made her heart flutter with a ping of pain. Dear, sweet Glinda. She wondered where the Good Witch had ended up herself. Did she still listen to the Wizard and pretend she was ditsy? Was she still a political prisoner to his game? Elphie often thought about how much she regretted leaving Glinda alone in Oz. With that thought she gazed over at her desk and the pile of letters that she had received from Glinda in the years she had been banished from the likes of Oz and more especially the Emerald City. No one had ever cared for Elphie the way Glinda had and more often then not Elphie thought about sending a letter. But how could she explain everything that happened? That Elphie chose to let Glinda think she was dead. She also wondered what Glinda might think of how she was living now. Would she be happy for her? To live a semi normal life? Or disappointed in her choice to run away?

The second thing Elphie's mind mulled over is why she had chosen one of the most populated Cities to spend her days. At first she thought about how much she hated being in such close quarters to other humans. But then she would remember. This was the best city for her to gauge protests and the easiest city to influence politically. She was insisting still on the right of animals in the human world, even if the animals couldn't speak in the ways they could with Oz. She was a devote vegetarian and she'd never change that. Many parts of personality, though some had faded, had stayed strong in her beliefs. She hadn't changed that much in the years she lived there and she vowed that she wouldn't lose her belief system.

On the same aspect of people, her thoughts moved on to Fiyero and wondered what he could be doing with his life. Since coming to the human world, he was no longer a scarecrow and she had no magic. They had gone their separate ways not even a year after leaving. They found that they weren't in love with one another and that it wasn't going to work out between them. The last she had heard, he had fallen in love with a princess of another country, which suited him. After all, he was a prince of his own. What was her name? Sarima? Elphie couldn't keep up with it.

She looked at the clock and noticed how much time had passed. Lazily she decided she should make something for dinner before she forgot about food all together. Though, just as she got up to see what kind of food she had, there was a knock on the door. For a minute she stared at door across from her, as if she didn't know what a knock as the door meant. In five years, she still wasn't anything more than a loner. She did not have friends who came and knocked on her door and any time Fiyero would enter, he would walk in like they still lived together. He was still family after all.

So she stood there, almost unsure of how to move. There were no solicitors welcome in her building, she was sure of it. That being said, she walked her way over to the door, but slowly, as if she was an animal unsure of who was safe to her. Then the knock happened again as if it knew what she was thinking and to ensure that it was a real experience she was having. She shook her head. It had to be some sales person who got in under the radar or maybe a small child selling something for school. She shook her head and placed a hand on the cold door knob. Then, she pulled it open with a rush of warm air coming at her.

"I'm sorry, but I am just not very interested in whatever you are -"

Elphaba opened her eyes and all of a sudden words didn't form in her mouth anymore. Her throat was dry. Her heart rate sped. The world around them seemed to fade in a blur. Blue eyes nailed into hers. She tried to swallow but the action felt impossible. She could feel her hands shaking, was it even possible? Was she just a mirage of a girl she once knew?

Luckily the girl before her was just as awe struck, as if she didn't know who's door she had appeared in front of. Still Glinda stared, trying to take in the girl before her. Elphaba was still the gorgeous girl she had known and loved, loves. She was different. In fact, very different.

Here, Elphaba wasn't green. Her skin was as alabaster as Glinda's, if not more.

Glinda, being blind sighted by the whole matter, took the time to realize how Elphie had hidden in this world easily. She had finally realized what Dorothy had meant by different. She was still beautiful, but in a way that Glinda could only describe as being beautiful thought not a part of herself. She wasn't any less herself by losing a physical aspect of herself, but being green was apart of her all at the same time. Still, her green eyes stared right through Glinda like they always had. She had always seen just passed Glinda's exterior.

Still, her skin wasn't the only thing surprising. Elphaba's outfit fit in with the other beings in the human world. She was wearing dark blue jeans and a green tee shirt, that read who cares across it. Her glasses illuminated her wide, green eyes and at the same time mirrored a light back at Glinda's sight. On top of her head was also a small green hat, that just barely clung to the top of her head.

Elphaba finally whispered, in a hardly audible way, "Glinda..."

Glinda looked like a lost puppy in a way that was vulnerable and heartbroken. As if she hadn't expected Elphaba to be alive, despite coming here herself. Elphaba looked almost as much vulnerable, but in a protected sort of way, like she always had been. She knew Glinda was smarter than the facade. She should have known…

"Well, if you guys are okay.." Dorothy, whom Elphaba had just noticed was there, in the corner of her eye, was backing away, "I think I'm going to wait out front." Suddenly, Glinda's plan to get there became more obvious.

Dorothy walked toward the elevators and Glinda still stood there, frozen in time. Elphaba took a deep breath and side stepped, "Glinda, come in."

Glinda fiddled with her thumbs and paced passed Elphaba, with a wind flowing behind her. If they were in Oz, Elphaba imagined that a reign of magic would flow behind her, as if channeling her anger. With that thought, she assumed Glinda had become more powerful in the last five years, which shouldn't have been a surprise. Elphaba couldn't expect her to stay the same.

Glinda turned around when she reached the window sill. She seemed to be using her hands to talk, but no words had yet come out of her mouth. "Elpha-Elphie-I." She started and took a breath and letting it out slowly. Elphaba stayed quiet and fixed her glasses to her nose, patiently waiting. Glinda thought for a moment, closed her eyes, and swallowed. "Elphie, there's a lot I don't understand." She began and it sounded like the beginning of a lecture, "But. I do have time to learn."

Elphaba blinked twice, confirming the reality, "Glinda, it's so good to see you." She smiled genuinely, "I-uh. I thought about this moment a lot but I could never think of what to say and I-" she noticed the rambling, "I missed you."

Glinda's lips curled instinctually, "I've missed you too." Her shoulders were loosening up as the tension dissipated. Though, her eyes looked on the verge of tears, "I've missed you so much Elphie."

Elphaba smiled, but her eyebrows dented inward, and she turned back to the window. "Glinda I hate to ask this so early, but I need to know why you're here. Why Dorothy is waiting downstairs."

Glinda gulped, "I don't know how else to say this Elphie, but I'm here to bring you home."

Elphaba cocked a brow, "Glinda, you know why -"

"Not really I don't." Glinda cut her off. "In fact, if you remember correctly I thought you were dead." Elphaba opened her mouth to speak, but instead of making it words it just hung there. Glinda looked out the window sills turning her whole body opposite of Elphaba. With the twirl and flip of her short hair, Elphie couldn't help but notice how beautiful Glinda was. Only more beautiful then she had been the last time Elphaba saw her. She was more confident, more rooted in her opinion. Elphaba could tell, "I'm here to bring you back to Oz. Everything has changed. You have a chance to restart there."

Elphaba licked her lips, her dark hair falling over her shoulder, "I don't think Oz could ever be a place for me to start over, Glinda."

Glinda nodded, Cordially, like she was arranging a business meeting "And what? This place is? Because of the lack of your green skin? Like that makes you more of a human being or somehow more beautiful? As if you cared about those things. Is it because you still think that is what keeps you from having a soul? Or because you can melt away in a crowd? Did you ever think that that's not what you were meant to do, Elphie?" Her tongue was sharp. There was a tense silence as Glinda turned to look her in the eyes, "and I for one, preferred the green."

Elphaba seemed matched, "Glinda, Oz cast me out. You for one know why I was in hiding and I understand your anger, I do. Rightfully so, I'm guilty of it, but that doesn't mean I can just return to Oz. Fiyero and I left for a reason and -"

"Fiyero's alive too?" Glinda took Elphaba's silence as an answer, "Add that too the list then."

"Glinda I-"

"Look, I don't have time to argue," The Good Witch still hadn't given Elphaba time to speak her truth, "I can't expect Dorothy to wait for me. Magic isn't easy to come by here, I can feel it. I will have a hard time finding a way back to Oz without her shoes. So here's my proposition. You can come to Oz or stay here. If you come to Oz then I will give you ten days to decide whether or not you wish to stay. If not, I will find a way for you to return much easier from that side of the portal then from this one." Elphaba was quiet, trying to process everything she said. And just as quickly as she came into the apartment, she walked back to the door, "I'll be downstairs with Dorothy."

Elphaba watched her walk away, her hair bouncing with each pointed step. The door slammed and made Elphaba jump. The idea she could have thought over for hour, she was now only given moments to decide. Elphaba looked back out the window and down to Dorothy. Glinda wouldn't have given her the option to be selfish. She wasn't going to bring Elphaba back to be in danger. Elphaba trusted Glinda and she always would.

Could it be that Oz actually had changed? That there was a new world to venture back to? Could Glinda be right about her after all? Why did she stay in the human world, if not to be safe? She couldn't practice magic or life biology the same as she could in Oz. It was a different world and their biology was not the same that she had worked to learn about in Shiz. She would have to return to a university to study that and it would take too much of her life to retake so much.

And if anyone in all of Oz could convince her to come home, it was Glinda. Her father and Nessarose couldn't do that, even if they were alive that is. Fiyero wouldn't be able to either. He was the one who told her that she was prettier without the green skin. But Glinda was different. She always had been. She'd accepted the green more than anyone else and still thought she was beautiful. Elphaba almost believed it when Glinda said it.

That being said, Elphaba grabbed a broom from her front closet and the black hat Glinda had given her all those years ago. She changed into the frock she had left Oz in and tied a fleece around her neck. All at once she became the Wicked Witch of the West again. Then she walked down the stairs and met the other two girls in the lobby. It was only ten days after all, what could it hurt to see what happened to Oz after she left. Then, she would leave and resume her life in New York City. It was practically just a vacation.


	4. Chapter 4 - Welcome Home

**Chapter Four**

 **Welcome Home**

 _Dear Elphie,  
I'm unsure how much longer I can stay here. Every day I think about joining you. The longer I stay, the more my life feels like a prison. I can't take the terrible things they say about you in Emerald City, Elphie. I want to be with you. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I want to be apart of the rebellion._

As Elphaba Thropp turns the corner from the elevator, Glinda's letter from all those years ago hits her full force. One of many that she had read over and over again, but as she stared at Glinda she couldn't help but wonder. Is what she said about Oz true? Has it really changed at all? How could she trust that Glinda wasn't cursed or spelled to say what she did? How could she know that when she returned to Oz she wouldn't be met with an execution? She was already here with Dorothy, a girl who tried to kill her once before - as dim-witted as she was. She and Fiyero were treating the burns that felt like acid for weeks. She was lucky that it didn't scar, though she didn't understand how anyone thought it could melt her.

Still, even if it was just ten days, ten days could do a lot of damage. Every terrible memory she has was from Oz. But so were her better ones, Most of which, included Glinda. And while her gut still said this was a trap and she couldn't just go back so easily, her heart was begging to return to Oz. She couldn't let the Wizard play her like that. Nothing in her life had ever been so easy. How could this?

But she was staring at Glinda and it was always hard to think straight when she did. The way Glinda's eyes sparkled in the winter light. The way she buried her nose in the fake furs of her vest. The way her nose wrinkled in the breeze and how her blonde curls bounced on her little shoulders. If there was anyone in all of Oz that could have Elphaba on her hands and knees, it was the bubbly, beautiful girl before her. She accepted Elphaba for who she was and Elphaba's heart sank at the thought. She had left Glinda alone in that world, to think two of her closest friends were dead and in just the three minutes she spent with Glinda, she had already experienced the anger that was boiling to the surface. She had so many pent-up feelings and it was all Elphaba's fault that the blonde felt that way at all. If anything, going back to Oz would at least give her a chance to fix a relationship she thought she would never have the chance to fix at all. If anything, she couldn't leave Glinda again, wondering why Elphaba would choose not to be with her. Elphaba knew that Glinda probably thought about their last moments together as much as Elphaba did and if not, more. She couldn't have Glinda wondering about that forever - she couldn't let her love feel so abandoned. _Glinda, my love._ It repeated in her head and then more confidently, _I love you Glinda._ The words circled her head a million times over as they had for years now. She had known she was in love with Glinda since they were in school together and she had made horrific choices because of it. One of which included interrupting Glinda and Fiyero's wedding, which led to Fiyero leaving with her though she hadn't planned that at all. She never had the chance to tell Glinda how she truly felt and then she thought she was going to die and didn't want to leave Glinda with that as her dying word.

So she walked forward and in the daylight, she squinted her eyes. She approached the two girls standing on the sidewalk and Glinda hardly acknowledged her appearance since they had just fought. Instead, she kept a straight face and turned on her heels in towards the square. From there, they walked in silence, down the streets of New York, so tense that it was almost diplomatic. Then, a few blocks down the sidewalk, Glinda asked, "Should we be looking for Fiyero? Do you know where he is?"

Elphie bit her lip, feeling the sting of another lie that Glinda was facing, "A few years back he moved away with his fiancee, Sarima. She was the princess of a foreign country. I doubt he would be looking to come back to Oz."

"Very well." Glinda sped up the walk as they approached the square, not bothering to even look back at Elphie, who stayed two steps behind.

The next thing the three girls knew, Glinda and Elphie had their arms locked to Dorothy, feeling the familiar warmth of magic slip through their bodies. Elphaba couldn't remember the last time she had done magic or how bad she had missed it. In her first year in the human world, she had tried magic over a dozen times without real results. She could do some, small tasks if she was lucky. Magic was much harder to attain and at one point she had traveled the world looking for another magic user. It took her a year to find someone who truly had magic in them and they told her that magic was dangerous in their lands and that it always came with a price. So feeling it now, she hadn't realized how much she had missed its warmth.

"Welcome back to Oz, Ladies," Dorothy announced the words and Elphaba opened her eyes. Before her, the familiar city built itself around her. Green building burst into the skyline with the castle, being the biggest and longest among them. In the same instance, the cold brushed over their shoulders as snow fell in the city around them. Green and gold wreaths hung around the square and Lurlinemas music sung in the distance. The holiday season was in full blast and while it only felt like hours to Dorothy and Glinda, it seemed that days had passed in Oz since their last visit.

Finally, people came into their midst, a crowd of them shopping around the square. The magic swept around them in circles of colors, making their presence all but known to the crowd. People stopped in their footsteps and stared as the figures came into view, three girls connected by their arms. For a moment, they all just stared and the guards approached from the outskirts of the castle, coming to see the view. Each of them released each other's arms. The longer people stared, the easier Elphaba became uncomfortable in her own skin which had most definitely come back to its original color. All of a sudden a flush came over her, if a darker green was considered a blush (Glinda always thought it did). Nervousness was a cloud over Elphaba's head as if she would be stoned right there for her so-called crimes, but that was not at all the fate that met her.

A guard finally approached Glinda, "Your majesty." He came to kneel before Glinda and Elphaba practically choked from shock. "Welcome home."

Glinda smiled gratefully down at him and then tapped him on the shoulder, "Oh come now, you have no reason to kneel. How long have we been gone?"

The guard quickly came back to standing and Elphaba then noticed his Vinkus descent, "Sorry Miss Glinda, it just felt like I should give you a better welcome than just a hello." The boy smiled and Elphaba knew he couldn't have been long out of Shiz. "It's been two fortnights since you left for your quest."

Glinda giggled, "Well thank you Ian, but no need at all." Glinda caught a glance at Elphaba and Elphaba just stared at the interaction in awe. What really had happened since Elphaba left? Glinda then turned back to the guard, "I've never been away that long, did everything go okay with the council?"

Ian smiled down on her, "It went really well, there was no trouble at all. Most of us were just getting ready for Lurlinemas. Crope did his best to take care of things, though, he's no you."

Glinda then took the moment to look across the crowd of faces who had still gathered, "Oh, well hello everyone." Many people smiled, waved, and shouted hellos to the Queen. She then cleared her throat and noticed that anyone not looking at her, was staring at Elphaba. Glinda let a blush cover her face when she noticed the way Elphaba had bit her lip in anticipation. Something between worry and nervousness. Glinda can't remember the last time Elphie had been in front of a crowd. Then she realized that Elphaba might be worried considering Oz was nothing like this when she left. "Well, I guess now is a good of a time as any." She whispered and then took Elphaba's hand. Elphaba looked at her with a worried glimmer in her eye. Glinda gave her a reassuring smile and rubbed the back of her green hand. "Citizens of Oz, it is my honor, to introduce all of you to Miss Elphaba Thropp."

For a minute they were silent and Glinda could practically feel Elphaba shake. Then it happened. The silence turned to cheers and the cheers turned to praise of Elphaba. Glinda watched as Elphaba's face grew an even deeper blush, her smile growing. Glinda held her hand and Elphaba clenched onto her like she was afraid to let go, "What did you tell them?" Elphaba asked, hardly above a whisper.

"We'll talk later," Glinda whispered back. After the applause ended, Glinda led them on and the crowd parted to let them through to the castle. Her, Dorothy, and Elphaba walked passed the large castle doors and the guards stayed at their posts outside. Inside, the doors closed behind them and the heat of the castle burst through their clothes. Glinda took a breath and let the warmth heat her back up. Slowly, she shed her scarf and jacket from herself, putting them on the coat hanger next to the foyer. Then she turned around and saw Elphaba. Beautiful, green-skinned, Elphaba staring at her and just struck with everything that happened. The sight made her giggle, "Why, Elphaba Thropp I don't think I've ever known you to be speechless."

Elphaba shook her head out of it and coughed, "I-I'm sorry, I'm just trying to take it all in. You're the Queen of Oz?"

Glinda's smile turned into a blush that she hoped coming in from the cold would hide, "Well, I guess so yeah but I usually avoid the formalities."

Elphaba cocked an eyebrow, "Miss Glinda Upland of the upper uplands, most popular girl in all of Shiz and the public eye Glinda the Good - Doesn't like the formality of being the QUEEN?"

Glinda scratched the back of her head and swallowed, all of a sudden feeling very tense, "I guess you could say things have changed."

"I'm just gonna... go…" Dorothy noted and before either girl could break their eye contact, Dorothy was gone.

"Elphaba Thropp if it's not the work of the Unnamed God -" Glinda and Elphaba both broke out of the trance and looked over at the grand staircase that led up and to the east and west wings of the castle. There at the top stood Crope, Tibbett, and Boq, watching them from above.

"There is no unnamed God," Elphaba said so matter-of-factly and in seconds the three boys were down the stairs and grabbing her into a group hug. It took her a minute to catch up, but as soon as she did, she hugged them back. Glinda stood back as they hugged and when they finally, eventually, let go, Elphaba took the moment to look at them. "Boq..you're not a...you're back to you're old self I mean…"

Boq backed up and brushed his hair back, smirking. "I'm not a tin man you mean?" He laughed and looked over at Glinda, "I have her to thank for that. She spent three years helping me find a way to change back. She's honestly the best sorcerous I know." The group looked over at Glinda, who couldn't help but blush again. Elphaba gave her this smile that all but reassured her of her ability. Before she could say anything, Boq shook Elphaba's attention back to him, "But hey, this isn't about me. It's about you! You're - You're alive!" Boq cheered,

Glinda's smile faded again and she scratched at her forearms. The thought of Elphaba being alive was thrilling, but she was also incredibly angry. She had anger that she never knew she had because she hadn't known that Elphaba was alive. That all these years, Elphaba could have been with all of them, but she chose not to be. She chose to be alone in a world she didn't belong to, not even in her own skin, then to be with her family. She chose Fiyero over Glinda. Glinda just didn't understand how she could possibly stay away from all of them for this long.

Elphaba smiled at her old friend Boq, "Yes. I am alive and I'm so sorry that I've been gone so long. It's a long story and I just-"

"There will be time for that, later," Crope said, patting her shoulder, "Right now I think we should just be glad you're here and that we're all together, right?" Crope shot Glinda a look of suspicion.

"Yeah, uh, right." Glinda nodded, taking a few steps closer to the group, but still obviously uncomfortable.

Tibbett swallowed all of a sudden realizing the tension, "Hey boys, why don't we let Glinda give Elphaba the tour, maybe let them have a moment." The boys back off and turned to a corridor nearby, "We'll see you guys at dinner."

And just like that, the two girls were alone in the vastness that was the Emerald Castle. Glinda swallowed and she could've sworn it echoed and Elphaba cleared her throat, "Would you perhaps, want to show me around, your Majesty?"

Glinda rolled her eyes, a bit of a smile hinting at her lips, "Please don't call me that, Elphie." The nickname slipped before she could remind her brain that she was mad at the green girl.

"Well you called me Elphie, so I think we're making a little headway." Her lips curled in a way Glinda knew all too well.

Glinda bit her lip and let their eyes meet again, this time allowing herself to take a step closer. She brushed her hair behind an ear, "I'm just. I'm a little confused is all. There's a lot of feelings and we've got a lot to talk about.. but.. I am so glad to see you." She breathed out in relief and pulled Elphaba into a tight embrace, "You have no idea how many times I dreamt about this." She whispered into Elphaba's ear, taking in the smell of fresh oils.

Elphaba wrapped her arms around Glinda's waist and held her like she was going to disappear. And they stayed like that. Frozen in one another's arms, holding each other and taking in the other's presence. It was all they had been thinking about for six years of time, wishing just to be able to see the other again. And here they were together. Before Glinda knew it, tears were streaming down her cheeks and onto Elphaba's shoulder. When Glinda let go, she had to wipe her face clean and that's when she realized that Elphaba had started to cry. "I'm so sorry," Elphaba said.

Glinda was quick to wipe Elphaba's face off, "Ephie stop, it's gonna burn."

Elphie smiled weakly, "You're worth it."


	5. Chapter 5 - The Queen of Oz

**Chapter Five**

 **The Queen of Oz**

"And this. This is the castle library." Glinda turned the corner of the familiar double doors and the girls turned into the vastness that was the library. Books on every wall lining one of the biggest rooms in the castle. It was one that Glinda had become most proud of over the years, filling it with as many books as she could and reading whenever she had the time. It was a room that helped her feel close to Elphie, even when she was having her worst days. She had always imagined bringing Elphaba there and how she would react.

She turned around to look at Elphaba's reaction and she was giggling at the sight before her. Elphaba's eyes were wide and Glinda was wondering if she was counting the number of books she could see. The tall shelves towered over them and covered every wall that Elphaba looked. They were different colors and from all different time periods of Oz, "It's a little bigger then Shiz's library, huh?" Glinda asked when she found Elphaba to be starstruck.

Elphaba scoffed in a playful way, "Yeah, a little. Glinda, this place is huge." Elphaba took a walk around, looking more closely at the titles.

"Since what happened.." Glinda thought back on her first year without Elphaba, "I've been working on collecting books and filling the library as best I could. I thought you would like it."

Elphaba looked back at her best friend and smiled genuinely, "I love it, Glinda." Then the green girl went back to the shelves, scouring them for whatever she hadn't read and as she did, she nearly toppled over the desk propped up against the wall. Glinda laughed as the green girl tripped and when Elphaba stood up, Glinda saw as she took notice of the contents on the desk. It was an oak wood desk that was filled with items from her time at shiz. It had school books that she had stolen from the library, a few items of her clothing, and the letters that Glinda and she had passed back and forth during their time apart from each other. She felt the crispness from the air as Glinda let her approach it and look over the items, "So, do you want to tell me what happened… When I left?" She sounded all too nervous to ask as if she was breaking the glass that they had just built together. She didn't want to make Glinda anymore upset, but she couldn't stand having missing pieces of a puzzle. She had to know, "What happened to the Wizard? And Morrible?"

Glinda's face froze with the sudden questions. She knew there were going to be a lot of them and the two girls had years to talk about. And even more so she froze because she realized that she had a secret too. It was a secret that the Wizard was Elphaba's legitimate father and having only found out about it after Elphaba's death, she never had the chance to tell her. Then again, this didn't seem like the best time to mention it all. She just got Elphaba back, she couldn't have her running back to the human world in search of the horrific dictator that was her father. He was banished anyhow and even for the girl she loved more than anything in the world, how could she betray her people? No, that was a conversation for another day.

"After you…" Glinda couldn't bring herself to say it so she skipped over it entirely, "I was angry I guess. I banished the wizard and Morrible is in prison." She tried to keep out the details.

Elphaba cocked an eyebrow, "That's all? You just banished the wizard? The dictator that plagued Oz for years? Just like that?"

Glinda cleared her throat, "Okay, maybe it's a bit of a long story." She tried to smile it off.

Elphaba nodded, still curious, as she walked around the library and by extension, around Glinda, "Okay, then maybe you can tell me what you told everyone about me? How you changed their minds from the Wicked Witch of the West to applauding when meeting me?"

Glinda scratched the back of her head again, "Well, that's a bit of a different story."

"I'm waiting."

Glinda sat down on a bench and Elphaba sat down next to her. Glinda stared at her shoes, "My original intention was not to say anything because that's what you asked me to do. It was the day they were celebrating, the Wicked Witch of the West's death that is… and at first, it's not like I had a plan." Her hands were starting to shake, "The last time we saw each other, you told me not to clear your name and at first that's all I could think about and then I was telling the Ozians about the Wicked Witch's death and then It was happening all over again. For years I had put up with being told what to say and do and how to act in front of crowds. I was just a figurehead, lying to everyone. Which I realized, made me just as bad at the Wizard. So I told them the truth."

"The truth?" Elphaba asked.

Glinda smiled and their eyes locked, "I told them about a girl I met in school," She smiled back on it fondly and reached out, taking Elphaba's hand in her own, "Back when I went by Galinda and thought being popular would be my greatest accomplishment." She giggled, "And then I told them that this girl gave me the benefit of the doubt and I told them about the dance. I told them about what it was like to be your friend in school and how many times you helped me through it. And I told them about Morrible. And the Wizard. I told them what really happened the day we came to see the Wizard."

"And it was just that easy? They believed you?" Elphaba, always the pessimist, was shocked.

Glinda smiled, "They knew it was the truth."

"You told them everything, then?"

"Well, not exactly everything. I kept everything about your allergy to water a secret.. and how I found out about that. I mean, I guess they already thought you had…melted..but. Now you're back and I thought that and a few other details deserved the privacy."

Elphaba nodded at that, as she remembered memories her and Glinda shared from so long ago. There was a day specific to both of their minds. It was back at Shiz, out of class. It was one of the first days that Glinda had stood up for Elphaba at all. It was the day after the dance at the Ozdust Ballroom. And in front of a large crowd too. Elphaba had been cornered by Shenshen and her minions. The three girls were friends of Glinda who had despised Elphaba since day one and ensured that she knew it. At first Glinda had played along with their pranks and long standing hatred, choosing to make fun of Elphaba for her skin and other made up reasons. They used her major in Life sciences against her and treated her horribly. That is, until the dance Fyiero had set up. Elphaba had walked in wearing a hat Glinda gave her to make fun of her more, but seeing Elphaba made fun of in front of the entire school had been enough. That night, Glinda apologized and they danced. She had still gone by Galinda back in those days.

The next day, a crowd had formed to see what Shenshen and her cronies had been up to. In this instance, they were nearing her with a bucket of water. Two other girls were holding her arms back when Boq had gone and retrieved Glinda from her class. Glinda had asked him why and Boq had only told her that she was closer than anyone else to Elphaba. It all happened so fast and before Glinda knew it, she was standing in front of Elphaba and getting soaked by a bucket of water. She yelled to the crowd that the show was over and with a few dirty looks, they disappeared. Glinda than turned around to check on Elphaba, who seemed to be a few feet away from her. "Are you alright?" She tried to take in the situation around her, the way Elphaba had shed her cloak and threw it on the ground because it too was also wet.

"Why did you do that?" Elphaba was shocked, her eyes looking Glinda up and down.

"I just, don't like how they treat you." Glinda replied, picking up Elphaba's cloak from the ground, "You don't like water do you?" Glinda start to follow Elphaba back to Crage hall. Elphaba folded her arms and mumbled something about getting Glinda new clothes and a towel back at their room. When Glinda didn't get a direct response, she continued, "I don't mean to pry or anything, but I noticed that you don't take normal showers. You use your oils don't you? Milk maybe?"

"I'm-" Elphaba started, but stopped. Glinda could see in Elphaba's eyes that she had not yet trusted Glinda as far as she could throw her. Elphaba fumbled with her Key to their door and brought her inside. She quickly went into the bathroom and came out with a towel, "You should get changed. You're soaked."

Glinda caught the towel, "A little water never hurt anything." She looked at her school girl dress in the mirror. It was wet, but the water had not ruined it. The bow tie at the top was her favorite part of it and she was rather disappointed that she had to take it off. It was her favorite outfit this week.

"Except it does.." Elphaba grumbled as she brushed her hair.

"I'm sorry?" Glinda asked, trying to make sense of the hushed tones, "Elphie-"

"No one calls me that."

"I do." Glinda smiled. She watched Elphaba as she brushed her hair and her mind she couldn't get the thought of how beautiful Elphaba really was. The green skin she had always been made fun of for was nothing but different. A beautiful different at that. It was emerald and absolutely gorgeous. Glinda had tried to tell her the night before, but Elphaba had walls for good reason. Glinda suspected that she hadn't had the best home life and the girls from Crage hall had never made it any better. She couldn't help noticing the few clothes Elphaba had despite coming from a wealthy family and how she often skipped at at least one meal. She had suspicions, but nothing to confirm them. She had a long way to go if she wanted Elphaba to trust her. "You can tell me, that is. If you want to tell me something, you always can." Glinda said as she ran the towel through her hair.

Elphaba seemed to contemplate the ups and downs of telling her, than licked her lips, "I'm allergic. To water that is."

Glinda raises a brow at her, and looked through her closet, at least trying not to make a big deal of it. Inside she was jumping for joy that Elphaba was choosing to trust her, "Allergic?"

"It, burns. When It gets in contact with my skin."

"So, how did you become queen?" Elphaba brought her back out of the memory. Glinda had almost forgotten where she was, caught up in memories. In the five years that Elphaba had been gone, Glinda often found herself lost in thought, in her memories of Shiz. Her memories with Elphaba felt lie the only thing she really had left of her.

Glinda took a deep breath, once again realizing how much she had to say - how much had changed in five years? "I kind of just… asked. I mean, I was the only one of the regime to stick around and with the truth being out there, it wasn't very hard of an election. And once they gave me the chance I tried my best to make Oz a better world. For everyone."

"The Animal bands?"

"My first law was to abolish them."

"The dictatorship?"

"I have no more power than my council. Any law I request must be passed by them and vise versa. There is a council member for every region of Oz."

"This is all.. amazing Glinda. I can't believe you did all of this." Elphaba was almost speechless, which made Glinda shine with pride. She had worked hard over all of this, she wanted above everything for Elphaba to be happy with it.

"I wouldn't have done it without you. Knowing you changed everything."

"Miss Glinda, your majesty," a guard came to the door and the girls turned toward him, this guard was a middle aged goat, "Dinner's nearly ready."

"Right, we should eat." Glinda got up and Elphaba followed.

"It's going to take me forever to figure my way around." Elphaba mumbled as they walked.

"So I'll take that as you're staying." Glinda nudged her, a smile still plastered on her face.

"If I stay, that is." Elphaba wasn't sure what she had decided, but one thing was for sure. Glinda was right when she said Oz was different and it was all because of Glinda. She changed everything that Elphaba had so many issues with. Now, looking at everything, she didn't feel like she had a reason to leave at all. Still, she wanted to keep the option open. Elphaba had never been an optimist and when she was involved, she was usually waiting for something to go wrong.

They neared than end of the third or fourth Stoney corridor and it was all looking the same to Elphaba. It was a long maze that she wasn't sure had an exit and she hoped she wouldn't get lost in the days she stayed. Glinda had shown her most of the castle, but Elphaba couldn't make it back to the bedrooms if she tried. Not to mention find the front door again. Finally, the corridors ended and opened up into a long dining room table, smaller than the one for banquets. This one seemed to be a small one made for family meals for the royal family, or at least that's what Elphaba thought. Inside the room Boq, Tibbett, and Crope we're getting ready for dinner. They were setting the table and bringing out servings of tonight's meal, vegetarian of course. As they entered the boys all smiled and greater them warmly, as did the fire place that burned at the other end of the room beyond the dining table.

"Do you have servants?" Elphaba asked, clearly talking low to Glinda.

"I don't, well, not really. I tried to abolish it years ago, but some people really wanted to stay and needed the job, so I kept a few in jobs they requested and others I moved to more important tasks. Menial tasks we take care by ourselves. No one cleans our rooms, no one cooks is dinner. In fact we usually try to cook dinner as a family." Glinda said as she pulled a chair out for Elphaba.

Elphaba smiled a thank you and took her seat, "So you all live in the castle?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Glinda laughed, "Besides, Boq is the representative I have from munchkinland and Crope is my advisor. I offered Tibbett a job in the castle, but he chose to work in the city. I couldn't have them anywhere else though, we're a family."

"Tonight we just thought we would give you two some time to yourselves, considering, so we made dinner." Boq added, "But don't think that means you get out of five years of conversation." He winked and Elphaba nodded, nervously.

The boys smiled and then Crope bit his lip, "Speaking of, Glinda, can I have a word?" Glinda looked over and furrowed her brow. Than her best friend motioned to the door and she nodded.

"Excuse us." Glinda said, squeezing Elphaba's hand. Once Elphaba gave the go, she left the room and Crope brought her far down the corridor and out of ear shot.

"Please tell me you told her." He said, the first thing out of his mouth.

"Told her what?" Glinda asked, a million different things running through her head.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe, about your undying love for her?" Crope asked and Glinda practically coughed at the abruptness of the question.

"Uh, no. Not quite…" Glinda was a little lost in thought, delirious from just thinking about it all, "Why are you asking?" She tried to normalize her surprise but it didn't go well.

"Because you've been gone for weeks and you haven't told her? Jesus if I thought Tibbett was dead, I'd tell him I loved him as soon as I saw him." Crope was expectant and it made Glinda nervous of the whole other secret she was keeping from her best friend. She had in fact wished for this for years, but it was a lot harder than she imagined in her head. With Elphaba back, there were so many loose ends that Glinda had to fill her in on. After all, they had missed five years of each other's lives. Glinda was still mad that Elphaba had lied to her and then there was the matter of the throne and Elphaba's father, the wizard. It was all too much for one day. How could one person think of all of that? Not to mention add the feelings she's been dying over and still hadn't told Elphaba about. In her head, she always imagined she would just run up to Elphaba, hug her, kiss her, and everything would end with a happily ever after. In fact, that's what she thought all the way up to the moment she knocked on Elphaba's door. When she saw her, those feelings manipulated themselves into so many questions. Why had Elphaba lied to her? If she's still alive, how could she have stayed away for five years?

"It's not that easy. And It may have been weeks in Oz, but in the other world it had only been hours. I've hardly been with her a day and it's a little bit honestly overwhelming, if you're asking." Glinda licked her lips and folded her arms.

Crope raised an eyebrow, "Oh, so running an entire country you can do without breaking a sweat but talking to your best friend makes the Queen nervous?"

Glinda rolled her eyes, unable to help the smile on the edges of her lips, "Just give me some time okay? And will you quit calling me that?"

Crope laughed at her and she elbowed him in the stomach, "Alright, fine, but you better tell her. You can't keep it from her forever. You know that secrets never end well."

Glinda nods as they turn to rejoin the group in the dining room. Once they turned the corner, Glinda could see that the group had settled into their seats and Boq was talking to Elphaba about the other world, "So what was it like - over there I mean?" Boq seemed to be the most interested in other worlds. Glinda can remember the way he studied what little books they had on world travel. He was the one who had helped Glinda all those years ago find a way to enchant the Dorothy's shoes.

`"It's…" Elphaba thought while taking another bite of her salad. Glinda took her seat beside the Elphaba. She put her hands on the table and Elphaba's hand immediately swept over Glinda's. Glinda was surprised, but definitely wasn't complaining about the hand holding. It was something from their years at Shiz. They would hold hands and pinkies during class and at lunches. To Glinda, it had always been a sign of reassurance that she had someone by her side and that every decision she made she had someone to back her up. She wanted to ask if it meant anything to Elphaba or if she had just missed her, "It's different. Over there, they don't really know anything about magic and everyone there was very.. ordinary."

"Really? Just ordinary?" Boq's face turned from excitement to disappointment in a heartbeat, "Oh my, don't tell me that. It has to be more interesting than that."

Glinda took a bit of food into her fork and looked between the two. She never thought she would see this sight again. For once, her family felt whole. The only one missing from their group at school was Fiyero, who according to Elphie was at least happy. Glinda's face was starting to hurt by the length of time she had been smiling since she had first seen Elphaba, "You could tell them about your skin." The words came out of her mouth in a way like they were back in the old days, at Shiz, when they had inside jokes the boys didn't quite know. She loved that part of Elphaba and back when they were in school together, There was nothing that they didn't tell each other. It was a rough start for them but by the time they left to see the Wizard, Glinda felt more vulnerable with Elphaba than anyone in the world. When she had lost Elphaba, it was like losing half of herself. In the years, the holidays, the family get togethers they had together, Glinda would alway feel the ping in her heart when she saw everyone having a good time. If Elphaba really was dead, Glinda would have never gotten over it.

Elphaba raised a brow at her and than everyone at the table was looking at her in anticipation, "Oh, right. In the other world, my skin was… or wasn't. It wasn't green." She chuckled to herself.

"Really? I wonder how that's possible." Tibbett pondered the idea, "Besides that, I couldn't imagine you in any other color." He smiled.

"I prefer the green, myself." Glinda mumbled and Elphaba playfully rolled her eyes.

"I think it's the lack of magic overthere. It makes me wonder how I got the skin because if it's the lack of magic that changed my skin, than it had to of been magic that I got it from in the first place." Elphaba explained and Glinda's face turned into something of guilt. She would have to tell Elphaba about the magic elixir and the wizard soon. Hopefully before she admitted her feelings for her. Everything was so complicated. The group gave her a look of asking, as if asking if she was going to tell Elphaba. After her death, Glinda hadn't kept it a secret about the Wizard. So, now it was even more complicated. Glinda waved them off with a small motion so Elphaba didn't notice.

"So.. Elphaba.." Tibbett moved to change the subject, but the sound of his voice meant it wasn't a good subject to change to. "Not that we all don't love the small talk about it like you went on vacation… but you haven't really told us what happened. And I don't want to offend you, but I think some of us deserve to know." On the last sentence, Glinda looked down in her lap, a red spreading across her face. Still it was a question that Glinda was dying to know the answer to.

Elphaba cleared her throat when silence hit the room, "I know. You all deserve to know." She squeezed Glinda's hand and Glinda looked over at her. Their eyes met and there was a slight pain radiating off of both of them, "I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to leave any of you. But… All those years ago, I didn't think a thing in the world could stop them from coming after me. Or the Wicked Witch of the West that is." She looked down, "I know that isn't an excuse, but I couldn't keep running away and hiding. It wasn't working. And I can't exactly blend in in this world. So, I thought it was best for you, for all of you, if I just left."

Glinda swallowed hard and her throat was all of a sudden very dry. So Instead, Boq continued the conversation, "And why you never came back..?"

Elphaba cleared her throat and Glinda wondered if she was feeling the same dryness. Still, they didn't break eye contact, "If I had known that it was at all like this, I would've. But… I thought the wizard was still in power and I never knew. I just… I never knew."

Glinda had near tears in her eyes, "How could you…" She whispered. She wanted to say more. She wanted to ask how in five years Elphaba didn't come back to see her at very least, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Glinda wiped away tears that were just beginning to form in Elphaba's eyes, hoping they did we burn her. All of a sudden it was like they were alone. Elphaba squeezed her hand, "I couldn't risk you getting hurt. If you didn't know, the Wizard couldn't hurt you, my sweet."

Glinda shook her head, "I would've rather known. All of these years…"

"I'm so sorry." Elphaba looked over and noticed the boys, who were still listening, "I'm sorry to all of you. For letting you think the worst. It was just better If all of you thought we were dead."

"We?" Crope raised an eyebrow.

Elphaba and Glinda shared a look of sudden realization that the boys didn't know Fiyero was alive either. So Elphaba explained that Fiyero had faked his death as well and she told them how he escaped death when he nearly died for saving her. How he escaped the guards when Glinda had defended him and begged them not to hurt him. She explained that Elphaba's spell had turned him into a scarecrow but that in the other world, he was still human. And married to Sarima. The boys were happy the ended had changed for Fiyero as well. Happy he hadn't met his demise and that he was happy.

"Well maybe sometime in the summer we'll take a trip there and see him?" Boq asked, more asking Glinda than anyone else.

Elphaba nodded though, moving her attention back to the blonde, "We should go back sometime. Glinda you would love to sights. They're breathtaking."

"I can only imagine." She smiled, "Yes maybe in the off season if there is such a thing."

"For a Queen, I think not. But we can make time." Elphaba was happy with her own joke and Elphaba calling her a queen made Glinda blush. Glinda was also starting to enjoy that Elphaba was already talking about the future and she hoped it meant she was staying.

"You don't have to call me that, Elphie." Glinda replied, her voice soft and vulnerable.

Elphie looked over at Glinda and nodded, "But if anyone deserves to be a Queen, it's you." Glinda couldn't help the red that spread across her cheeks, highlighting what little freckles she had.

"Shut up." Glinda slapped Elphaba's hand and shook her head, "Anyway. I was thinking tomorrow we could all hit shops and show Elphaba around town. Maybe buy a few gifts for Lurlinemas."

"We can, but tomorrow morning I want to get you caught up. You've missed a bit and we need to make sure you're up to date before we go out in public. You know how Emerald City press is, always love a story. I'm surprised we haven't gotten a press release about your love affair with Elphaba." Crope and the boys laughed as Elphaba almost spit out a mouth full of mashed potatoes.

Glinda only giggled, "Elphie, according to the press I've either had an affair with each of the boys or I'm still grieving Fiyero. They never stop. Since the Wizard left there's actually been more press stations opening up across Oz."

Boq also laughed as the green girl cleaned her face off, "Yeah, some of them are writing about politics and others are just tabloids. Most of which are concerned with Glinda or one of our dating lives. When Tibbett and Crope got married, we got away from it, but sometimes it's overwhelming. Most of the time it's about the castle life. Most magazines call us the royal family, which is nice."

Elphaba smiled and laughed a little, then she turned to Crope and Tibbett, "I guess I'm a little late on my congratulations in that case."

Tibbett laughed as he took Crope's hand, "Thanks, Elphie."

They finished up eating not soon after that and Glinda offered to take Elphaba to her room. Elphaba agreed and they walked the halls in comfortable silence, just enjoying being in one another's presence. "This is yours," Glinda motioned toward doors to Elphie's Right and Elphie followed Glinda's lead. Glinda opened the door for Elphaba and she walked in, finding the room to be much larger than she could've imagined. The bed was a master bed with drapes running along the edges and plenty of room to move about. Straight across from them were glass doors that opened up to a balcony over Emerald City, the green lights already peaking through. Elphie was once again star struck by the castle and all of its hidden gems.

"Wow," Elphie tried to catch her thoughts, "I don't know if I'll ever stop saying that around here."

Glinda was laughing and biting her lip at how beautiful Elphie's starstruck look seemed to be, "So, bathrooms over there to your right and you should find a small wardrobe in the closet that you can pick from. I had a friend go shopping for you today, I hope that's alright. It's just a few things and we can go look for more for you later and I told her not anything too bright. I hope-"

"Glinda, my sweet." Elphie smiled over at her and Glinda stopped talking, "It's lovely. Thank you." And Glinda smiled back.

"I'll leave you to it than.." Glinda motioned for her to check out the room and Elphie went towards the walk in closet.

Glinda went to close the doors when she heard Elphie's voice, "Glinda?"

"Yes?" Glinda's voice came out with a bit of a high pitch and she came back to the door frame.

"I just want you to know," Elphie said as she put started to braid her hair, "I'm promise I'm not going anywhere, I'm not going to disappear in the morning or anything.." She said, her words feeling so all of a sudden vulnerable and the opposite of what Glinda ever knew her to be. "I just know that pretty little head of yours thinks and thinks a lot. I just don't want you to worry. I'll be here." She paused, then said. "And thank you. For everything. All of this, it's amazing."

Glinda just nodded, her red face almost enough of a response. Her smile was as bright as a harvest moon. Her eyes were glowing. Than she remembered she could speak and she had to clear her throat to come back to Oz, "I've missed you so much." She said.

"I missed you too. More than you will ever know, my love."


	6. Chapter 6 - Day Two

**Chapter Six**

 **Day Two**

The next morning, Glinda was awake before the sun, as she spent most days at the castle. As Queen she had a lot of tasks to complete and she was more often awake before anyone else in the castle. Crope often got up with her and today was one of those days, since he was the only one to fill her in on what she had missed. She was still impressed by how much time had passed between worlds, weeks in only hours was too much. Even if she took a day trip she would be gone too long from the castle. She hardly liked being gone as long as she had now. She had never had to catch up for work, but of course Elphie had always been the exception. And as she passed by Elphie's room just down the half from her room, she peered in to check on her best friend. As she did though, found that Elphaba, in fact, wasn't in her room. Almost immediately she started to panic. Her hands were starting to shake and her breathing increased in pace. Her chest was moving up and down. She looked again and again. She tried to remember the words Elphie had told her the night before, but she was blanking.  
"Hey, hey, it's okay." Glinda whipped around to find Crope standing behind her, whispering, but knowing full well that nobody else was nearby. Crope and Tibbett both slept in the master bedroom on the west wing of the castle and Boq slept in an adjacent room to them. Glinda had refused sleeping on that side of the castle first because the west was still a trigger word for her and because the east side was just a few feet closer to the library, "She's in the library, Glinda. She's in the library. I passed her on my way here." Glinda tried to take a deep breath but they were still short and thin. She was having a panic attack. She couldn't stop shaking until Crope took a step toward her and held her tight. He was repeating his words like they were ritual, "she's just in the library, okay? We can go there. She's in the library."

Glinda nodded and the walked. Crope kept his arm around her the entire walk and she was lost in the thoughts. She was embarrassed at how easily she freaked out but how could she stay calm? She had just gotten Elphaba back, she couldn't lose her again. She tried to focus on. Elphaba's words and remind herself that Elphie was still there, But her body wasn't believing it. She was still shaking. Then they neared the library and Glinda peeked through the door. Inside the library, in the dark, Elphaba was reading with torches lit all around her to provide enough light without the sun shining through the large, long windows. Her eyes were darting through pages, her hair tied back in a braid, and a new outfit from the closet. It was a plain black robe, but it suited her well. In fact, Glinda was so surprised by how well it fit she found herself staring. Still, she was complexed by how afraid she was of losing Elphie. She knew it was a huge part of her heart but she had never experienced so much panic. She wondered if the dreadful feeling would ever go away.

Crope pulled her along as soon as she was calm enough to go, careful not to disturb Elphie on the way. He led them from there to the office he and Glinda spent a lot of time doing their paperwork in. Once in he walked in he let go over and leaned on her desk, folding his arms. "You have to tell her."

Glinda swallowed and tried to regain her thoughts, "Crope, it's more complicated than that."

"It's not. You need to tell her. Everything too. You're a Queen Glinda as much as you want to deny the title, you can't be lost in thought when a kingdom is depending on you. Which you haven't even asked about, by the way. Your Animal Marriage Rights bill was denied by the council." Crope pulled up the paperwork and showed it to Glinda. In her head, she was thinking about how even his whisper tone was pretty harsh.

Glinda looked over the paperwork and sighed, "I know, I'm sorry. I need to be more focused on the kingdom."

Crope took the paper away and raised his eyebrows, "Glinda, yes. That's important, but not what I'm getting at. You need to tell Elphaba the truth. About everything. It's affecting you, hell you're still shaking from the thought of losing her and it's only been a day."

Glinda's voice was all of a sudden smaller then she intended to be, "that's just it, isn't it? I could lose her.." and in the split instance, Crope understood why Glinda wanted to take her time with everything. She was afraid of Elphaba leaving and by the amount her hands were shaking again, she was very afraid. She then cleared her throat, "I'm going to tell her, I promise. Just give me time okay."

"Okay," Crope told her. Then they finished they're working silence and Glinda was caught up by the time the group met for breakfast. When they joined, Elphaba, Boq, and Tibbett had already started whipping up pancakes in the smaller of the two kitchens in the castle. This castle was their personal kitchen and there was one more across the hall from the ballroom. During big events, Glinda hired chefs to use it, but other than that it stayed empty. It didn't seem to be going to great for Elphie considering she had a few already in the trash, but she was trying and Glinda found that she loved the way pancake mix was splattered all over her - she was adorable. And she was trying.

"Good Morning," Glinda said as she leaned on the doorway to the kitchen. The group looked over at her with smiles and Elphie gave her a slightly perplexed look, "You okay?" Glinda cocked a brow at her and at the trash can filled with burnt pancakes.

Elphie looked back at the batter and then at the trash can, "I'm not as good of a cook as I thought I was."

"How did you make food when you were away?" Boq asked, still laughing.

Elphie wiggled her nose and Glinda added it to the list of adorable things she did, "I managed. Small things, really."

"Breakfast is ready!" Tibbett announced dragging a few platters with him of pancakes and other sides. Glinda smiled and they went back to the dining room across the hall. Once settled, Tibbett started the conversation again, "So I'm thinking we hit the shops after breakfast. Maybe everyone can get dressed and we'll meet in the foyer when we're ready."

"That is if Elphaba can spare some time away from the library?" Crope asked a grin to his lips. Those were his first words since they had met the group. Glinda was nervous at first, but He had promised to keep their conversation and Glinda's panic attack between them, "I noticed on my way to meet Glinda this morning. Did you get a wink of sleep?"

Elphaba smiled earnestly, "I couldn't help myself. So much about the history of Oz and sorcery."

Glinda took a bite off her fork and couldn't help but revel in it. She loved pancakes in the morning, "Notice how she didn't tell you how long she'd been in there."

"Just a few.. hours or so. Maybe, four?" Elphaba looked down at her food when she spoke.

Glinda put a hand on top of Elphaba's and have it a little squeeze, "you'll have plenty of daytime hours in there, you should really keep up with your sleep." But Elphaba only smiled and nodded unconvincingly. They finished the rest of their meals happily and then exited to their own rooms. Elphaba and Glinda walked together.

"Oh And Elphaba," Glinda added just before they split ways. "I had the piping changed to that shower. It's actually working with Almond milk now. Considering your allergy. I thought it would be best. I thought you might like being able to shower." Glinda's face was red and she wasn't even sure why.  
Elphaba was just as caught in surprise as she had been by everything in Oz, "I, I'll have to try it." She smiled, "Thank you, Glinda."  
Glinda nodded, "of course."

Everyone got ready, met in the foyer, and headed out to the city. Glinda wore a scarf over her head to be as incognito as she could. Her dress was still as lovely as ever. A beautiful, slim, blue dress with long white gloves and stockings. She wore a long cloak jacked overtop and two scarves, one on her neck and one around her head. Elphaba made a small comment over it and Glinda insisted on trying to stay out of the limelight. The others joked about Elphaba staying out of the limelight. So they walked, mostly using side streets away from the square. They avoided crowds pretty well especially considering how easily they could've stuck out.

"How about we head to Lurline square? Always a good place to start." Boq offered as they went without a destination in sight.

"Um.." Glinda mumbled under her breath.

"That's a tradition isn't it?" Elphaba asked.

"Well, it's just..." Glinda mumbled and Elphaba tried to catch up to her. Once she did she interlocked their fingers.

"Just what?" Elphie asked and Glinda licked her lips.

"Ohh, Glinda doesn't want to pass South Elphaba square. It's on the way." Tibbett laughed and the others joined in.

"Oh is that it, Glinda? Don't want her to see it?" Boq laughed and Elphie squeezes her hand tighter. Elphie's eyes were burning a hole in Glinda's soul. Glinda wasn't sure if she would ever stop blushing.

"What? See what?" Elphie moved her eyes from one to the next and then back to Glinda. Glinda seemed to be overly embarrassed by the entire situation. She pulled her scarves closer to hide her blush.

"Better ask the Queen," Boq giggled from behind the two couples who were holding hands. Elphaba found Crope and Tibbett holding hands to be adorable and she wondered if Glinda thought about holding hands the same way. She wondered if Glinda wanted to be married and she thought about how she wasn't sure if she agreed with the social construct of marriage. Though, everything seemed different when she looked at the blonde. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that she loved her.

"Glinda? What is it?" She asked, but Glinda stared straight ahead. By now they were nearing S. Elphaba square.

Crope tapped the blonde on the shoulder in a playful way from behind, "Come on Glin, we would've passed it, eventually."

Glinda finally looked over to the herd best friend, the way her eyes were staring with such determination. Elphaba never enjoyed secrets or surprises. Glinda tried her best to be as open as she possibly could with her because of that. Elphaba had been left out her entire life and Glinda never wanted to make her feel that way again. Though they were almost there and Glinda wanted a genuine reaction. So she let it play out until they reached the square and all of a sudden it was in plain view.

It was a statue. A statue surrounded by a fountain on all sides. It was grey with green highlights. It was bold and could be seen from every angle of the square. It was a statue of Elphaba Thropp, kneeling. She was wearing her cloak and pointed black hat. She was kneeling as if she was accepting the idea of being the Wicked Witch of the West. She was still as beautiful and emerald as ever. As Elphaba stared at it, Glinda's heart was pounding. She had authorized the commencement of it after the vigil she had held in Elphaba's honor. It was supposed to be in honor of her and in hopes that they never let what happened to Elphaba happened ever again. Elphie only squeezed her hand tighter as she read the inscription,

"Elphaba 'Elphie' Thropp. No one is Wicked."

Glinda coughed in the silence as Elphaba starred, "After everyone knew the truth, it felt appropriate."

"There's one of Glinda in Saint Glinda square." Boq piped up from the back, hardly noticeable behind everyone else. "Right near Saint Glinda church, you spent some time there didn't you, Elphie?"

Elphaba nodded, "I did spend some time there when I was in hiding from the Wizard. A statue of you I'd love to see."

Glinda only rolled her eyes as Elphaba looked over at her, "That was done by the people of Oz. I didn't know about it."

Glinda could tell that Elphaba was near tears, "Wow. I can't believe this is here." She was trying to clear her throat to keep herself from crying. That act itself caused Glinda to snuggle into her more, she wrapped her arm to the inside of Elphaba's as they held hands and laid her head on Elphaba's shoulder. That made Glinda's head wrap fall down. around her neck.

Glinda licked her lips and smiled, "All I can I say is that you're beautiful." She whispered.

"This little moment is lovely and all, but I think we're on our way to go shopping, aren't we?" Crope asked. Glinda shot him a look and Crope raised his eyebrows. It was a look told Glinda again that she needed to tell Elphaba everything.

"Mama, look! It's the Queen! Look! Look!" One little girl shouted from a shop awning and the crowd started in.

"Miss Glinda!" Another shouted as crowd zeroed in. Then the royal family made their way of an escape, making their way back towards Lurline square. Still, there was no real escape. They couldn't barge through the crowds and they couldn't sneak away either. It was unfortunately now that had to be a time for a meet and greet, "And Elphaba! I heard roomers that she was still alive!"

"Hello, everyone." Glinda flashed them her signature smile.

"Your majesty! Is it true you and Elphaba are courting? I heard roomers from the daily!" Another shouted from the back.

Glinda only shook her head and rolled her eyes, "Do you believe everything you read? How would the tabloids already know if I don't." She joked. Elphaba was still caught off guard, her green getting deeper by the minute.

"Miss Elphaba, we are so glad you're alive, anything to say about how that's possible?" Another journalist in the crowds spoke up. Elphaba wanted to be a little angry at the question, but it was coming from an Elephant journalist and she couldn't help but be proud. This was an Oz she could live in. And all because of Glinda.

Elphaba cleared her throat to speak, but Glinda squeezed her hand and beat her to it, "Elphie is lucky." She said, "She and we all are all lucky that our cruelty didn't kill her. I hope that as a kingdom we have learned better."

"Does that mean she'll be our new Queen?" Someone Glinda couldn't quite see joked.

Elphaba's hand was shaking a bit. She was nervous. After all the only times she had been around people of Oz this long was during the witch hunts. It was hard to face the same people, who even now knowing the truth, were once her enemies. She also never enjoyed politics. She never wanted to be the Eminent Thropp, though she couldn't help but have a hand in helping the animals. What was happening to them was immoral and she couldn't keep herself out of it. She wondered if she would be staying in Oz if she would have to learn to live with the politics that is Glinda's life now. Not even to think about if she ever told Glinda how she really felt about the blonde. She had to admit, this was something she didn't know she wanted. A family. Glinda only smiled to the crowd, "She most definitely fits the Emerald profile." She giggled.

"Miss Elphaba?" A woman stepped forward. She was pretty, near the same height as Glinda. She might've even been Gillikinese. She took a few paces further until she was very close. A toddler stood behind her and held her hand. She was small enough to hide behind the woman's leg too, "On behalf of all of us in Oz and in Emerald city, I'd like to apologize for how you were treated. We are so happy to welcome you back to Oz."

Glinda looked back to Elphaba, this time giving her the space to speak. Elphaba only cordially smiled, "Thank you."

There was a moment of silence in the crowd as if they had all agreed it was needed. Then Glinda spoke, "Thank you all again, but you see we must be off to go shopping now. Lurlinemas is right around the corner."

"Miss Glinda, what does that mean of the Lurline Ball?" Another in the crowd asked.

Elphaba gave her a questioning look as Glinda announced, "Lurlinemas Eve, of course!" And the crowd cheered, "The tree lighting ceremony as well. Mark your calendars for this weekend! The castle courtyard!" The crowd continued to soar with cheer. "Happy Lurlinemas everyone!"

The off the royal family went, down to Lurline Square to the shops of Emerald city and all they included. Shops of every kind too. Shops for all different sizes of clothes and candy and a gift for everyone inside. For a little, they even tried to split up to get gifts for others. Glinda found a beautiful ornament for Crope and Tibbett's wedding anniversary. Elphaba found a beautiful glass figurine for Boq's collection. When Elphaba wasn't looking, Glinda snuck in a collectors book of sorcery that Elphaba had been eyeing. And when Glinda wasn't looking, Elphaba snagged an emerald necklace shaped in a heart. By nightfall they were back home and eating dinner, enjoying their long day of shopping. But it was as they were separating for bed, Elphaba asked to talk to Glinda privately. So that's where they were, Alone in Elphaba's room, sitting together on her bed, "What is it, Elphie?" Glinda was nervous.

"Can you tell me about what happened after I was gone? I don't want you to hurt, but after today, I don't want anymore surprises." Elphaba told her, twiddling her thumbs over her legs.

Glinda took a deep breath, "Okay." She sighed. This was one of the conversations she was dreading, "umm.. I guess I should start with the biggest thing. I want you to know that I hope you stay. I realized today, that now that I know you're alive, I'm afraid of losing you." Her hands were shaking again and Elphie reached a hand over to steady them.

"I promised I would stay ten days, Glinda. I don't break promises and even if I'm not here, you're never going to lose me." Elphie said.

Glinda took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes shut and opened them, "Okay. The day you.. left, I found the bottle you carried around with you. The green one? And I remembered that the Wizard has offered me the same bottle in the castle. So I approached him and demanded he tell me. He told me that it was his and I guess that means," Glinda choked on her words, "it means the Wizard is your father."

Elphaba was quiet in contemplative thought then. She licked her lips and swallowed, "It makes sense." She breathed, "I mean, my skin. My skin makes sense." She was looking at the floor which made Glinda squeezed her hand tighter.

"I'm so sorry, Elphie. You deserve so much better." She snuggles her head into Elphie's shoulder.

Elphaba shook her head, "No, it's okay." She leaned her head on Glinda's head, "It doesn't mean anything. He isn't worth my time." She swallowed, "Was there anything else? That I don't know?" She was hardly talking above a whisper. Elphaba linked their fingers together and Glinda rubbed her thumb over the back of Elphie's hand.

Glinda's stomach turned in knots just then. Her heart started to pound. She was lost in the thought. This was her chance if there was any. Elphaba now knew everything. She knew about her being Queen, she knew about the Wizard. This was her chance if she would ever have one, to tell Elphaba how she felt. Her throat was dry, her lips felt like they were chapped. Elphaba never liked the Wizard, but what if she didn't return Glinda's feelings? Would she run back to the human world? Even now with so few words, she was afraid that Elphaba would look for the Wizard. Her hands were shaking rapidly just thinking about not having Elphie. It was hard enough to lose her. She couldn't do it again.

Glinda coughed to clear her throat, "Well, the throne, the Wizard, the statue. I think that's everything." She giggled as if there was nothing else to say and felt her stomach knot up.

Elphaba smiled, "Alright." They stayed like that for a moment, almost snuggling.

Then Glinda said, "Well, if there isn't anything else.." Glinda sighed, "We should get some rest. Especially since you didn't get any yesterday." Elphaba nodded and they split ways. Glinda stopped at the doorway and whispered, "Goodnight, Elphie."

"Goodnight, Glinda."


	7. Chapter 7 - I know a girl, who's nearly

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 **Chapter Seven**

 **I know a girl, who's nearly a curse**

Elphaba was missing a large piece of the puzzle when she came back to Oz after five years being away. Sure, she didn't know about Glinda becoming the Queen or that the Wizard was her father. But she was missing something else. And that something was what she would never truly be able to understand. It was the hole she put in Oz when she left all those years ago.

It happened the same week every year. Every year on the anniversary of the Witch Hunt which killed her best friend, Glinda would lock herself in her room or the library, wrap herself in blankets, and breakdown. In fact, the years after were almost worse than the event itself, because Glinda had no choice but to remind herself of everything Elphaba would never see in Oz. She had to remind herself that Elphaba would never know that the once cowardly lion became a political figure and the first Animal to hold a position of power in many years. Elphaba would never see the abolishing of farms, the abolishment of Animal Slavery. In her first year as Queen, Glinda accomplished so much and as excited as she was, it was heartbreaking. Glinda's face was red and wet with tears year after year. Her eyes would be sunken in and dark circles would form around them. She didn't eat or drink when she could avoid it. It was a week of absolute dread and as the boys came to live with Glinda, they all dreaded it too. It was a week of mourning. They all missed Elphaba and Elphaba had no idea how those five years felt.

Even though Glinda was doing better, more honest with the kingdom, she was still far from herself. She put on a face for the people, to tell them of the changes. She was honest and kept herself together during council meetings, but alone, she was a wreck. There were horrible moments where she would stay in her pajamas all day, never get out of bed, and break down every second she could afford to. There were years of her life spent crying and visiting Elphaba's grace. The flower shop helped her with enchanted roses that grew into an emerald green color just for her to drop off at Elphaba's grave. And while Glinda was there all she could ever think about was the way she wished more than anything to see Elphaba. To change the events and go with Elphie when the Wizard was after her. She wished her decisions were all based around getting more time. That's all she wanted, more time.

Crope, Tibbett, and Boq did everything they could for Glinda over the years. They allowed her to grieve, but tried their best to get her to eat a meal a day, they tried to get her to talk. She was much quieter when it came to talking about how she felt. She didn't feel like she had the words to express how it felt. She felt like the could physically feel the loss. She could feel the tightness in her chest and Hollowness of her body. For the first two or three years after Elphaba's "death" Glinda hardly felt like she was living. And then after those years, everything was fragile. If someone had said anything, even the smallest phrase the wrong way she would break down. She was glass. It was no secret that she took Elphaba's passing worse than anyone in their group of friends. She was devastated and partially convinced that the Unnamed God had smited her for not knowing whether she believed or not.

Though, of it all, the mourning, being Elphaba's best friend, everyone staring at her with the look that just resonated with pity, the worst was never telling Elphaba the truth. Since the night of the Ozdust dance, Glinda had been falling for Elphaba Thropp. She had fallen in love with her beautiful complexion, her sweet gestures, and every snippy comment that Elphaba who she was. Glinda had tried to tell her, too, so many times over she had opened her mouth to speak and had yet to ever force the words to come out. She had spent so many hours going over the Speech. In their dorm, she had imagined just walking over to Elphaba and kissing her. She wondered how Elphie would react, what she would say, and most of all if she would ever return the feelings. Glinda had thought that pining over Elphaba and the green girl never returning her feelings was the worst feeling. She was wrong. The worst feeling was the emptiness that hallowed out her chest because not only did Glinda never tell Elphaba how she felt, but She would never even get to see her again.

That was the piece in the puzzle that Elphaba was missing and the reason Glinda woke up the next morning having another panic attack. This time it woke her up pushed her to curl up in a ball, begging body to remember that Elphaba was just in the room next door. It was before daylight still, but it wouldn't stop. So she pushed her shaking legs off the bed and stilled her hand enough to turn the doorknob and leave her room. Only this time, when she reached Elphaba's room and saw her there, still sleeping in bed, the panic attack didn't go away. It was still there as if her eyes couldn't be sure that this wasn't a dream. She had to know it was real.

So that morning, hardly at the crack of dawn, Glinda slipped forward to Elphaba's bed and laid down under the covers. Elphaba, being the heavy sleeper she was because of how little sleep she got, hardly rustled. That is, not until Glinda shifted to get more comfortable. That was when Elphaba turned over and wrapped a long arm around Glinda's waist and snuggled her nose into Glinda's neck. Not only did Glinda's panic attack dissipate, but her stomach went from knots to butterflies. Her face flushed pink and she had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down enough to relax.

The next thing Glinda knew, she was waking up in Elphaba's bed with Elphaba reading a book next to her, "Good Morning, Sleepy." Elphaba muttered before going back to her place in whatever book she was reading now. Glinda took the time to notice that Elphaba had a stack of books from the library on her nightstand. The thought that Elphaba enjoyed the library that much made Glinda smile.

"Good Morning," Glinda replied, stretching out her muscles that had stuck in a huddled position around her pillow for the last few hours.

"Did you sleep well?" Elphaba cocker an eyebrow at her, almost expectant of an explanation for Glinda sleeping in her room.

"I..uh.." Glinda then remembered the panic attack she had a few hours before.

"Nightmare?" Elphaba asked, this time giving Glinda more of her attention.

Glinda looked around the room and sighed, "Something like that."

Glinda realized then how late in the day it was. How the shadow of the sun was far passed rising, "Oh my, I-I overslept. Crope is going to kill-"

"Crope came in at sunrise and I told him you needed to sleep." Elphaba interrupted in a very matter of fact way that made Glinda's heart jump, "Tibbett came in a few minutes ago and told me breakfast would be soon. I didn't want to risk waking you if I left. Crope told me I should stay."

Glinda wondered if Crope would be expecting a conversation about this later, "oh," She slouched. "Alright." Her shoulders were still tensed.

"You're not relaxing," Elphaba notes, though she doesn't look up from her book.

"I don't.." Glinda furrows her brow, "usually have time to relax." She sighed, sitting further up in bed

"Maybe that's why you have nightmares," Elphaba replied, still trying to read amidst their conversation. Glinda wondered if such multitasking was possible.

"I have a kingdom to run," Glinda mumbled.

"Still, everyone needs a break at some point. You're most likely overdue." Elphie said, finally giving up on the book entirely and bookmarking it.

Glinda got up from the bed then and shook her head, "No, I need to go see Crope. My treaty has already been denied and I need to work to amend it today."

Elphaba got up with her and walked around the bed, "I think you need a day to relax."

"I had a day yesterday when we went shopping," Glinda told her, as they walked out the door and down the hall.

Elphaba only laughed to herself, "I'm sorry if you call running around the city after getting up before the sun to work a day off then this is way worse then I thought."

The maze began as they turned from one hall to the next, making their way to the dining hall, "Elphie, I don't exactly have time to take off. Besides, to the citizens of Oz already, I've been gone for weeks.."

"But to you, it was less than a day. You need rest, besides I already-" they turned into the dining room just then and eyes were on the two. Elphaba cut her sentence short when she realized that everyone was staring at their small argument.

When Elphie didn't continue, Crope spoke in the silence, "I thought she was supposed to be relaxing?" He asked.

Glinda's eyes narrowed at Elphaba, "What is going on?"

"Glin, we just thought-" Boq started in as he set down a tin of butter.

Glinda looked between all of them and caught up quick, "You thought what? Is this some kind of intervention? I had a nightmare, not a stroke."

"Glinda," Crope sighed out.

"Crope, you mean little- You just told me yesterday that I need to be more focused," Glinda argued, her fist clenched. Still, Elphaba couldn't help but notice how cute she was when she was angry. The way her perfect blonde curls bounced on her shoulders. The way her eyebrows curled into her perfect eyes. Elphaba had never thought anyone to be so perfect.

Boq again took the conversation, "Glinda, all we're saying is that you deserve a break. You work hard and-"

"A Queen does not take-"

Elphie wrapped around Glinda's and all of a sudden she forgot what she was saying. She wondered for a moment if Elphie knew what power she had over Glinda, "Glinda," She practically whispered, "Can you just, spend today with me?"

Glinda gulped and cleared her throat. She didn't expect anything like that to come into this conversation. She had no retort, "I-I- of course." Her breath was shaky.

Crope took the moment then, had Elphaba take a seat for breakfast, and took Glinda out into the hall. Glinda opened her mouth to speak, but Crope was a step ahead of her, "Before you say anything..." He started. He waited for Glinda to nod her head before continuing, "Elphaba asked if you could take a day off, because you were having nightmares. She said that you only had nightmares when you were stressed back at Shiz." Glinda fidgeted back and forth and twiddled her thumbs. If anything, she was impressed and surprised that Elphaba even remembered that. All those years ago, before every final Glinda would get nightmares and many times over Elphaba had a calming tea ready for her to help get back to sleep. Crope coughed to get her attention back on him, "and when she said that, I realized that I was being hard on you. I'm sorry."

Glinda nodded her head and wiggled her nose a little in response, "Thank you." She practically mouthed from how quiet it was.

"It also made me think about how absolutely heartbroken you have been for years. How much I know I would've missed Tibbett." He whispered to her and her heart clenched over it, "Take today to spend time with Elphie and if it feels right, talk." He told her. "Just don't think about being Queen, today be Glinda. I'll handle the rest."

"I, uh," Glinda was surely caught by surprise, but she still didn't feel like she had a choice in the matter, "Thank you." She finally said. They went back to breakfast, sat down, and Glinda tried to force her shoulders to relax, which didn't seem very feasible. This entire situation made her a bit uneasy. She had never left the kingdom and while it didn't feel like she had been gone a while, she had missed things. She hated it, if she was being honest. The council had already been hard on her yesterday for the weeks she had abruptly left for and even more so they wouldn't stop going on about the Lurlinemas Eve ball. To them, it was another attempt to trick Glinda into courting. Each province of Oz had already offered up their most impressive suitor and each year she had let them down. The council was all about an heir. And not that Glinda hadn't thought about it. She refused to leave the kingdom in anyone's hands that weren't capable enough to hold it. But she'd been grieving. She didn't want to think about courting anyone in the loss of Elphaba Thropp. No one would ever be Elphaba. Still, she couldn't be mad at the council for wanting an heir, they didn't know about her feelings for Elphaba. The only person she had ever told about her feels for Elphie was Crope and that wasn't really on purpose. Crope has accused her of having feelings on the night of her wedding to Fiyero which she thanked the Unnamed God that their marriage was never finalized. It was an arranged marriage, one that Glinda had used as a distraction from the Wicked Witch if only to give Elphie more time to get back underground. She offered it as a diplomatic marriage to keep Morribke from hurting Elphaba any worse. Fiyero had agreed to it because he never really knew what love was. He was blind to anything but the way he swooned over girls. Always too quick. It was a sighting of the Wicked Witch that had interrupted the ceremony and after seeing the look on Glinda's face when Fiyero and Elphie left together, Crope asked. Because he had never seen her look at Fiyero like that. He had never seen Glinda look at anyone with that look mixed with love, adoration, and heartbreak. Besides that she had hardly looked at Fiyero when they left, she only stared at Elphie.

It was hard to finish breakfast when she had everything on her mind.

After breakfast, the boys split off and the girls made their way back towards their rooms, "So, what would you like to do today?" Glinda finally asked in the silence of their walk. To her, everything she would find fun might be a little less than stressful. Shopping was a workout. Being out in town was hard with all of the press. She wasn't even sure what they could do that wouldn't be stressful.

Elphaba thought for a moment and wiggled her nose when she did. That was something that hadn't changed. When Elphaba was thinking and especially when she was studying, she would always crinkle and move her nose. It was something Glinda swooned over how adorable it was, "I was thinking we stay inside, lay down for a while and just talk."

 _Talking._ That statement alone made Glinda nervous. As much as she wished it wasn't, her feelings for Elphaba we're apart of her stress. With the council pushing her into the next suitor from a rich family and Crope begging her to be honest, it was a bit stressful. "Okay." She said, trying to keep her smile, "I'd like that."

This time, Glinda took Elphaba into her own room. As Elphaba walked in, she was once again taken back by the large, vast, and beautiful view. It was everything Glinda was put into a room. A walk-in closet filled with ball gowns and the such, as well as some more practical outfits. Her bathroom was huge with a bath, shower, twin sinks. The bed was covered in a princess duvet all around. The balcony looked over all of Emerald city and it's beautiful colors, as well as the snowfall from last night. The room was gorgeous and with a small hint of pink - very Glinda. "These rooms are really something else."

"Fit for a Queen I suppose." Glinda looked it over and realized that she never really had cared what it looked like. She hadn't cared for much materials after Elphie passed. Glinda went and laid down, trying to be as comfortable as she could, but as Elphie sat down she started to feel her heartbeat. Elphie next to her and around her was something she was still getting used to, "So tell me something."

"What?" Elphie asked as they faced each other.

"Whatever happened between you and Fiyero... when you left." Glinda tried to sound, uninterested, but if she was being honest she was starting to sound pathetic.

Elphaba laid back on the bed and stared at the top of the duvet. It was different from the rest of the duvet because it was dark and Glinda had enchanted it to show the night sky constantly. She was nervous about telling Glinda this, not knowing that Glinda and Fiyero's marriage was arranged,"I guess we were just both in the wrong place. We tried to date I suppose, but it didn't last more than a few months and he moved on. I wasn't heartbroken, I'm not sure if I liked him or if he was just the only person I had when I left." Elphaba tried to get it all out, "I'm sorry about.. everything." She finished.

"You don't have to apo-"

"Yes, I do. He was your fiancée.. I never should have-"

"He wasn't."

"Wasn't?"

Glinda licked her lips, "My fiancé. He wasn't."

Elphaba clicked her tongue, "You never mentioned that, in your letters." Elphaba replied, watching a shooting start float across the sky duvet, unable to meet Glinda's gaze.

Glinda only shrugged, "I don't know. It was arranged. I didn't want to talk about it. I wanted to keep the attention off of you."

"Okay." Elphaba kind of mumbled. She was thinking back to the day she did find out. The day she came to see Nessarose and turned Boq into a tin man. When Nessarose had mentioned the wedding, the engagement, Elphaba had nearly puked. She couldn't imagine losing Glinda so she had to go. She just had to. No choice in the matter, she went, she interrupted the ceremony. She amazingly stopped the wedding and Fiyero decided to come with her. At that moment she was angry at Glinda and heartbroken. That same night she slept with Fiyero, mostly out of spite of the wedding. She regretted it almost immediately. She hardly liked him as a person, they were never really friends in school. She just wanted someone who wanted her at the time and she was alone.

Between the girls, they could feel a barrier of silence, of all the thoughts they had yet to say to each other. It was everything that had been weighing on Glinda's shoulders and all she wanted was to let it all out. She wanted to tell Elphaba everything, but the cost was too high of Elphie decided to leave her. Elphaba on the other hand was in awe of everything Glinda had done. All she had In return was heartbreak for Glinda to remember. Elphie wondered if this was the reason after all those years she hadn't come see Glinda. Maybe it wasn't the Wizard - her father - at all. Maybe it was making Glinda's life harder. She hated the idea that she could potentially make things worse by being there. She also wished more than anything that Glinda would share her burdens more, allow herself to lean on the friends she had. She wanted to help Glinda the best she could, but she didn't know how if Glinda wasn't going to open up, "So what is your treaty about?" Elphie finally asked, hoping to change the subject of silence. Glinda puzzled her eyebrows at the green girl, asking how she knew about a treaty at all. "You mentioned it being denied by the council. What was it?"

Glinda wiggled her nose in thought, "Animal Marriage rights." She finally said, "I'd like to give them a chance to get more financially by being able to get married, as well as the obvious reasons."

Elphie nodded, but bit her lip, "Why didn't it go through?"

Glinda shook her head, "The majority of the council is still a bit stuck in their older ways. I had to fight tooth and nail for a lot of my bills to go through. They have.. different kind of options," as she finished the sentence, she was thinking again about the stress of having an heir and the Lurlinemas Eve ball. Eventually, she'd have to tell Elphaba about the suitors. She wondered if Elphie would care if she knew, but all of those thoughts just led back to the big question. Whether Elphie liked her or not was the biggest question there was and she was killing her self over it.

"Oz has traditions, that's for sure." Elphaba replied, "I'm sure a lot of your ideas have been hard to get through. But you'll get through it. You're resourceful and smart and incredibly charismatic." She said, putting a hand out and nearly feeling the coolness of the night air in the image, "Did I mention an amazing sorceress?"

Glinda rolled over and watched Elphaba gaze at her night sky, the stars mirroring in her eyes. She was absolutely beautiful and the look in her eyes when she realized Glinda was staring was even more precious. She was being honest and Glinda, while she put up a confident front, had never felt that any of those things were true, "Do you really mean that?" She asked.

Elphaba turned then and their faces were inches apart. Elphaba put her head over one pillow and looked Glinda straight in the eyes, "Of course, Glinda. You're amazing and you don't even know it." She took her free hand and pushed Glinda's hair behind her ear. Glinda couldn't help the blush that spread across her face. Her heart was beating out of her chest and she wondered if Elphaba could feel it against her neck.

"So are you." Glinda whispered back as she let her hand fall on Elphaba's hip. She could hardly breathe at the moment. Elphaba's skin turned a darker green that Glinda would've sworn was a blush. Elphaba's skin was fire hot.

Elphaba's lungs were taking in shaking breathes as they fell silent in such a closed position. Elphaba could've sworn that Glinda had looked down at her lips, but she couldn't be for sure. Was this really something friends did? She wasn't ever really sure, she'd never been so close to someone before. Glinda was her closest friend and what if she was wrong? She couldn't imagine losing Glinda - but just as the thoughts registered in her head, Glinda did it again. This time, Elphaba was so sure that it happened, she leaned in. She leaned in closer and closer. Finally, their lips touched.

All at once neither of them could think anymore. Their lips touched and it was soft and vulnerable. Neither can hear anything other than the sound of their heartbeat in their ears. All at once the room around them is gone and it was nothing but the slightest touch of their lips meeting. Glinda's stomach was doing flips and she felt like she was on the smooth, long road down a hill. It was as if her entire body had floated and fallen up and down. She was absolutely falling for, sure. She had hardly realized what was happening, Elphaba was lifting the kiss and coming back, moving her lips over Glinda's. Elphaba's hand had moved from the side of her head to the back of her head and finally, Glinda was kissing her back.

But just as soon as Glinda felt it happening, it was gone. Elphaba had pulled back and not only that but scrambled off the bed. In her rush, she had only mumbled something about going to the library and a brief, "I have to go - I'm sorry." Before she was gone and Glinda was left, shocked.


	8. Chapter 8 - Aftermath

**Slightly Shorter Chapter leading up to something, pretty big ;) Support my writing on tumblr ezrajclarke**

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 **Chapter Eight**

 **Aftermath**

"She left. I mean, could you believe that?" Glinda was staring down ay cosmopolitan martini, her fourth one on an empty stomach, and using magic to stir it with her finger. The barkeep for the castle was the only other one in the bar, which was only available to VIP guests with special permission from the Queen herself. It was after all the Queen's Bar. She had thought about getting up after her third, but the way the room was spinning didn't feel quite right. She was talking to the barkeep, but he seemed to have left in the middle of her sentence to clean a glass on the opposite side of the bar, "She kissed me." She said, as if saying out loud would confirm it happened. She touched her lips as she said it, as if the kiss itself was still lingering there, "She kissed me, then she left." She started to giggle in her drunken state. She leaned on the edge of the bar and nearly fell off her barstool in the process, "I mean, who does that?"

In the meantime, Elphaba was in her room, packing up what little she brought to Oz, to head out. It was quite obvious by Glinda's response that she did not feel the same way. She was absolutely shocked that Elphaba had kissed her in the first place, so Elphaba had definitely taken the moment the wrong way. Glinda didn't like her. Or at least, that's what she thought. So she was packing. She was working through the hollowness growing in her chest. She was working through the way her throat felt dry, the way her lips were numb. She was working through the horrible feeling traveling it's way from her gut to her lungs. She was ignoring the way it felt to be rejected, again, and she was ignoring the fact that she wasn't just leaving Glinda again - she was leaving the other boys too. She had high hopes in her that she would be able to stay there, to be a part of their family, but she had messed that up. Just as her whole life had gone up to now, she had messed it up all over again. So she was packing - packing the few things she had, and heading out the balcony window to head towards the first wizard who could help her get back to the other world. She stepped out into the brisk cold and even the cold air didn't make her feel like she could breath again. She was underwater and no amount of air would make that kind of pain go away.

"Elphaba, wait," It was Crope. He was standing at the doorway and making his way towards her at a rather fast pace. She looked between him and her broom. She had the chance now and she could go, but everything in her was telling her to stay. "Elphaba, where are you going?"

Elphaba shook her head, tears that she had held back were now threatening the edges of her eyes, "I made a mistake," The words hardly came out in a sound.

Crope shook his head and stared at her, or possibly through her, "Elphaba what are you talking about?"

Elphaba only shook her head and as she did, some of her hair fell into her eyes. As she moved it, tears drips down her face and branded her skin as they fell, "I-I kissed her." Elphaba said, "And I know I made a mistake and she doesn't feel -"

"Have you talked to her?" Crope folded his arms. He was torn. He had no right to intervene in their lives the way he already had, but there was no way he was letting Elphaba walk away from Glinda again.

"I, well, not really. I just know that she doesn't, Crope. It's been so many years that I've been in love-" she stopped short realized she had already said too much. It was one thing for a quick kiss and another to be in love, "I love her." She finally said out loud.

Crope, having just finished his walk, was now leaning on the balcony door, "Elphaba, you need to talk to her before you go disappearing." He couldn't say anymore, knowing full well it would be wrong of him to tell Elphaba of Glinda's feelings. It was theirs to work out on their own and as much hassle as it was over the years, he had to let it play out because it wasn't his right, "Don't you dare act like you can walk out of her life after you left her already. You have no idea how she feels. You're just scared."

Elphaba crinkled her nose at that. Nothing had ever really gave her fear like this had. She wasn't afraid of disobeying the Wizard, she was never afraid of joining the resistance. Elphaba was strong from day one and to say the least her green skin was also thick. She had moments of fear and anxiety and she had terrible moments, but she had never stopped being herself. That is, until now. Crope was right. She was leaving because she was afraid of being honest with Glinda. Afraid of being rejected by the one person who accepted her for who she was. So instead of being honest and standing up to the fear, she was running away. Crope was right, that just wasn't her. So she looked out over the Emerald City and decided that she had to fight. She had to fight to show Glinda how much she loved her and that meant accepting everything that Glinda was. That meant, being Queen if she had to. The green girl turned back to Crope and nodded. She walked back into the room with him and he closed the door, "Do you know where she is?" She asked.

Crope shook his head, "If I were you, I would go find her."

In the mean time, Glinda was still downstairs, drinking until her lips were numb and hardly being able to stand. She couldn't think. That was for sure. Which made it that much easier to deal with Elphaba walking out on her. Though, while Elphaba had been talking to Crope, Glinda received a visitor of her own.

"Glinda?" Glinda did a 180 in her barstool, making it wobble until it was stable again. It was Boq, standing at the doorway, his face lost in confusion, "What're you doing down here?"

Glinda slurred her words when she replied, "I, could assssk youuu the same questionnnee, Sir Boq." She giggled and as she did she hiccuped out little bubbles of magic, a side effect from enchanted drinks.

Boq shook his head at her, a small smile on his lips. Boq had never seen Glinda drink in all of his years of knowing her. During their years at Shiz it wasn't often that she would go partying with them at all. She and Elphaba often stayed in studying or hanging out with some of Glinda's old friends. If they did go out, they would normally end up going out to dinner in the town or somewhere more classy than the philosophers club. The philosophers club just happened to be the preferred hangout spot for the boys at Shiz University. He had been there many times with Crope and Tibbett and a few times they had regrets over. Boq had definitely never seen Glinda take a single drink during all of her years being Queen. Not at a single ball or event in the castle. Never once had Boq seen Glinda in this state, "Are you alright? I thought you were supposed to be with Elphie today?" He asked, pulling up and taking a seat beside her. He signaled at the bartender to start him on a drink.

"I'm fine, just relaxing. That's what you alllll wanted, right? Relaxed Glinda? Well here, she, is!" Glinda was passed plastered and Boq could tell. Boq signaled for the barkeep to cut off Glinda as well.

Boq sipped at his drink, "Something happen with Elphie?" He asked.

Glinda shrugged and cleared her throat. Her emotions were raw and tipsy and she was vulnerable, "She kissed me." She stated and put up her drink like she was doing a toast, "She kissed me and then she left."

Boq raised an eyebrow at her and he couldn't help his jaw dropping. He had always had his suspicions about Elphie and Glinda. They were two peas in a pod and as they say opposites attract. They always seemed to be two puzzle pieces that fit together. They were compliments. He had suspicions during Shiz and only dropped them when Glinda got engaged. He wanted to be happy for her. He wanted her to be happy. His suspicions only came back in a heartbreaking, haunting way when he watching Glinda mourn Elphie. Boq set his drink down, "Well, why did she do that?"

Glinda looked at him with a side eye and then pondered the question herself, "I don't know." She mumbled, "I really just don't know."

"Well, did you go find her?" Boq asked, as if it were just plain and simple like that.

Glinda eyed him, her blue eyes nearly disappearing beneath her eyelids as she squinted. Her eyebrows were dented inward and she licked her lips, "No." She clicked her tongue, "Usually when someone runs away - especially her - they don't want to be found."

"Or, they want to be chased." Boq tried her, using his raised eyebrow to pretend he knew secrets that she did not. He finished off his drink and slammed the glass on the bar, "Nine times out of ten, they want to be chased. I suggest, your majesty, that you sober up and start doing some chasing." He clicked his heels all proud of himself and dashed off and out the door. Glinda rolled her eyes as she watched him go.

Then the young Queen lifted herself off the stool and grabbed her coat. She put down a few coins for the barkeep who had listened to her drag on, then she turned on her heels to walk out the door. Only she didn't. She froze. Because standing, or rather resting her hands on her knees and out of breath, in the doorway, was Elphaba Thropp. She was desperately trying to catch her breath and Glinda could only assume that she had been running around the castle in circles to find Glinda. "Glinda, I-" The words caught in Elphaba's throat and Glinda folded her arms in an irritated manner, waiting for the green skinned girl to continued, "Glinda, Listen to me, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't of-" she started, but Glinda was fed up with listening already.

In her half drunken state, Glinda half stumbled, half ran at Elphaba. She tried to stand up taller then Elphaba even though it was never going to happen as she said, "No. You listen to me Elphaba Thropp." She only used Elphaba's full name when she felt that Elphaba didn't deserve the nickname, "I don't know where you got your manners from, but where I'm from you do not just kiss someone," She lost her breath as tears were welling up in her eyes. She tried to choke them back when she continued, "You don't just kiss someone." Her words broke on the word kiss and the word someone only came out as a whisper, "You don't just," She was sobbing, "Kiss someone and walk away like that!" Glinda said, "It's just not right, it's not. When you kiss me, you better kiss me like you mean it, Elphaba."

But instead of waiting for Elphie to respond, Glinda leapt toward her, her hands against Elphaba's shoulders, and Glinda kissed her, hard. Elphaba was more then surprised and fell. Her back hit the wall of the bar, her arms gripping Glinda's waist almost instinctively. Once, twice, Glinda couldn't get enough. Elphaba's arms were suddenly softly moving up and down Glinda's arms, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind.

Suddenly, Elphaba was kissing Glinda harder with a fervent, urgent need. She swept her tongue over Glinda's bottom lip and Glinda couldn't think or do anything other than give in. The blonde moaned to give her access. This time the kiss is messier and more in need of one another. This time the kiss is soft and gentle but full of every feeling Glinda has no idea how to say out loud. So she puts everything she has into it. She tries to say I'm in love in the way her lips move against Elphie's. Glinda never wants this to stop. As She's running her hands through Elphaba's hair and Elphie is pulling her hips closer despite the two already being flush.

In Glinda's drunken state she was hardly sure that anything is real so every few seconds she grips longer and tighter. She had to make sure this wasn't a dream. Elphie's tongue slips inside of her mouth and she's isn't even ashamed at the way she moans. They're tongues mesh and Elphaba moans too. When Elphaba finally breaks the kiss and they're both breathless and panting. When they break the kiss, Glinda feels like she can't breath. "Glinda-" Elphaba whispers, their foreheads pressed against one another.

"Elphie, I'm a little Tipsy." She mumbles, leaning all of her wait onto her best friend.

"I can tell." Elphaba smiled, running a hand through her hair and rubbing her back.

"Can you take me to bed? I promise we can talk in the morning.." Glinda was still slurring her words partially, but the kiss had more then sobered her up a bit.

"Of course." That being said, Elphaba picked up Glinda and carried her off to her room.


	9. Chapter 9 - The Talk

**Hello, Everyone! First I would love to thank everyone for all of the reviews I have gotten this week. It's amazing how many of you love this story. That being said, I just want to say that I am a creative writing major in college and the reason I write fanfiction is because it takes me out of my comfort zone and helps me write scenes and characters I wouldn't write in my original work. I have never written fantasy/romance before so it's really amazing how much you all love this. Reviews really help me get to know what I'm doing well and what I could work on in the future. I appreciate any comment about my writing and I hope any of the lesser reviews I have improved from. Thank you again!**

 **Also, I don't have a beta. I mostly write this to get myself into the writing mood, so I don't have anyone else to read this. All of the mistakes are my own!**

 **Please keep reviewing! This is a pretty big chapter! Thanks again!**

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 **Chapter nine**

 _ **The Talk**_

When Glinda woke up the next morning, her head was absolutely pounding. Every creak the castle made had her flinching over the extensive hangover. Her eyes were a bit bloodshot and her hair was an absolute mess. She was still wearing her dress from the night before and she could taste the lipstick still stuck to her lips. Her throat was dry and she could feel the dehydration setting in. She was sore all over her body and she wondered if it was because of how few drinks she had in her lifetime. She had never felt very comfortable drinking, especially around other people. She never liked the idea of being completely vulnerable around anyone. She was always afraid of saying something she would regret or waking up the next day with someone she couldn't recognize. She had never felt compelled to have a drink, after all. That is until Elphaba had left her last night and she had no idea why Elphaba had done that in the first place, not to mention after they k-

Then she remembered the events of the night before as they came back to her in sequence. Elphaba kissing her, Elphaba running away, Elphaba coming to find her, and kissing Elphaba. Her heart began to race just thinking about the whole thing. Then she realized as she began to move, that Elphaba's arm was thrown around her waist and tightly secured beneath her. There was a light snore beside her ear and Glinda could feel the heat of Elphaba's breath on the back of her neck. All of a sudden, Glinda had goosebumps. Her stomach was doing flips. She was actually laying in bed with her best friend and they were snuggling! Elphaba had kissed her! Really kissed her!

"Good Morning, beautiful," Elphaba whispered, as Glinda's stirring woke her up too. Glinda nearly leaped into the air when she heard Elphie call her beautiful in her still half asleep voice. Glinda was living in a reality she had never thought possible.

Glinda giggled and tried to take a steady breath in, "Good Morning, Elphie."

Slowly Glinda turned around and saw Elphaba for the first time since everything that happened. She saw Elphaba's beautiful green skin and that breathtaking smile. She saw the way Elphaba's eyes were gleaming back at her. Elphaba's hand never left her waist. She was secured to Elphie and Glinda had never felt safer in her entire life. She couldn't stop smiling. No matter how absolutely awful she felt and probably looked, Glinda couldn't keep the smile off her lips. "Are you alright? You had a lot to drink last night." Elphie said, also smiling. Glinda felt a blush cover her face from one side to the other, "I didn't really think about how uncomfortable you might be sleeping in a dress, either." Elphie said, looking down at Glinda's dress beneath the covers.

"A minor hangover." Glinda said, squinting in the morning light, "And that's quite alright." Glinda flicked her wrist and the dress quickly turned into silk pajamas instead.

"You're a great sorcerous." Elphei mumbled, "I can probably make a potion for your headache for breakfast.

Glinda nodded with a smile, "I would like that. It took me years to become this good of a sorcerous and you're still probably better. It took me a long time to decipher the book you left me."

"The Grimerie? You still have it?" Elphaba asked, her eyebrows high in surprise.

"It's hidden. It's dangerous, but I can get it for you." Glinda giggled, wrapping her hands around Elphie's neck.

Elphaba was than all of a sudden quiet, looking over the way Glinda's arms were on her neck. She cleared her throat and finally said, "You kissed me, last night."

Glinda giggled and smiled at her, "If I'm not mistaken Elphaba Thropp, you kissed me first."

Elphaba smiled at her and pulled Glinda closer. Glinda giggled as they got so close they were touching foreheads again, "Would it be okay if I did it again sometime?"

Glinda smiled and pushed her nose against Elphies, "As many times as you would like…" Glinda mumbled than pulled away from Elphie and looked into her eyes with a strict, afraid stare, "That is if you plan on staying in Oz." She cleared her throat and Elphaba looked down.

Elphaba licked her lips, "I'm so sorry I ever left you." She mumbled, "I would love to stay if you would allow it, your majesty."

Glinda rolled her eyes at the name and smiled, "Is that your way of asking to be my girlfriend?" Glinda couldn't help but smile with all of her teeth just by saying the name.

Elphaba smiled, her eyes looking overly eager, "Would you by my girlfriend, Glinda?"

Glinda answered first with a kiss on Elphaba's lips, soft and barely touching, but long and full of meaning. They stayed like that like it was it forever fleeting away from them, "I would love to, Elphie."

"Glinda?" A knock came to the door. Crope could be heard from the other side of it.

"Come in." Glinda called and the door pushed open. Crope walked in and smiled at the sight he saw between them, "Yes?" Glinda smiled and they shared a look between them that said everything Crope would ask details on later. Elphaba only took a bit of embarrassment over it as she drifted beneath the covers.

"Your meeting with the council is in fifteen minutes. Don't forget that this is your last chance to convince them for change or the bill will be pushed off the table for another year." He said, pushing his chest up and giving his best decree kind of speech.

Glinda only nodded, "I'll just be a minute." She said and he closed the door. Glinda got up out of bed, despite her entire body begging her not to and once again used magic to change her outfit into something more traditional for the council. It was a long, green suit that fit Glinda the right way in all of the right places. Elphaba couldn't help but take in how absolutely gorgeous Glinda was. The way her hair curled at its edges even in the mornings when she first woke up. The way her eyes twinkled in the morning light. The way her smile was bright as ever between her dimples. Elphaba was completely and head over heels in love with this girl and she knew from this moment on she would spend the rest of her life showing her. "We can finish this talk later today if that's alright?" Glinda asked as if her duties as Queen could wait for Elphaba to get up the balls to ask Glinda out on a date.

Elphie shook her head as she got up out of bed, "How about over dinner? There's a beautiful riverside restaurant on the east side of town-"

"The Riverside Green, it's my favorite." Glinda told her, "Absolutely, yes, yes. Tonight?"

"Tonight." Elphaba agreed and Glinda pecked her on the cheek before running off to her meeting with the council.

Glinda closed the door to her room and surprisingly enough, Crope was standing right outside waiting for her. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw him waiting, his hands behind his back and his eyes giving her an expectant look, "Oh, geez Crope, you scared me!" She playfully hit him on the shoulder, her smile never leaving her lips.

Crope only rolled his eyes, "Don't play dumb with me, you have a five-minute walk to tell me what happened."

Glinda could hardly keep her giggly school girl hidden from him, "We kissed. That's all." She tried to play it cool as she bit her lip to keep from spilling it all at once.

"Oh, yeah? A kiss? Is that all?" He laughed at her as her face turned bright red, "Only a kiss from the love of your life huh? Guess that's not too important to talk about?"

"Oh my, Crope, it was amazing." Glinda gushed, "It was absolutely everything I've ever wanted and more. She's perfect." Glinda was practically jumping up and down as they walked.

Crope only shook his head at her giddiness, "I'm so happy for you Glinda. You deserve everything." He told her. Then they were nearing the conference room beneath the grand staircase of the house. Once they reached the door, Crope turned toward Glinda and fixed her collar, "Alright, here we go. You know why this bill has to pass. All you need to do is convince them of the truth. You can do this."

Glinda thanked him silently and then they turned and walked into the council. The mixed group of members were already sitting in their seats at the long, round tables that made the Oz crest. They looked up when Crope walked in, in front of her. The doors made a sound as they hit the stoppers, "Introducing the Queen, Your majesty Glinda Upland of the Upper Uplands of Emerald City." Glinda rolled her eyes as she did everytime they had to introduce her. It was a silly tradition that she reminded herself to try abolishing again the next time she was able. She had tried every year up to now though and the elders refused to change it, "Please rise." Crope finished and the council members rose as she walked into the conference room.

"Thank you, please sit," Glinda said as cordially as she could manage, "I'd like to start us off by delving right into article 3566, section 12 of the marriage laws. I have been informed that I have one more chance to address the council and convince you that this change is an important amendment for Oz." She took a breath. This group of people was a hard bunch to crack. It was a mixture of elders as well as younger politicians. They were from all over Oz and in each of their homes, there was a difference in how they grew up. She was still on the lower end of the percentage. Most of the elders disagreed with her and she was at a disadvantage every time she had walked into the room. Most of her decrees spent years in the room with the council for them to agree to change in Oz. Some of them still believed in the Wizards form of ruling and some of the eldest of them believed they were still waiting for Ozma to return as Queen Lurline to rule Oz the right way, "We have come a long way in five years, have we not?" She smiled, "But all of those years ago, my reign started with the abolishment of Animal Slavery and gave everyone a chance to have the same rights. Now, that doesn't mean we are equal. Due to this article of our law, we are denying equal rights to Animals who have the exact same biology as all other creatures of Oz. Animals have been proven time and time again by biologists to have the same sentience as the rest of us. So why should we suppress their right to be the one they love in the way we all can? Why deny them the right to love who they wish to love and reap the benefits? How can we deny them if we have already given them the same rights in all areas of their lives? I do not see how this article, created by the abomination that was the Wizard's regime, is at all acceptable in the Oz we live in today. This very council was built on giving every portion of Oz a chance at equality, to give us all a chance to change the law to help Oz. I cannot see a world in which this same Oz is keeping an oppressed people away from marriage if they can have a seat on this council." She finished by motioning towards the one tiger they had with a council seat and he smiled at her. "That is all I have to say about the bill itself. Now we vote. All in favor of Animal Marriage, rise." Around the room, the most that Glinda had ever seen in her life rose to agree with her bill, leaving only a few of the eldest in their seats. She secretly jumped for joy at the very idea of this but tried to keep herself in check, "Very good. The bill is passed." A moment of silence passed before Glinda spoke again, "Now is the time, as good as any, for any member of the council to speak if there is anything more to be discussed."

As she finished her sentence, the eldest man of the council stood. He was of Vinkus descent with dark skin that reminded her of Fyiero's and blue jewels across his arms and legs, "Your majesty."

"Councilmen?" Glinda asked, raising her chin to the name of respect.

"The council would like to bring up a Marriage Act." He said.

Glinda swallowed and furrowed her brow, "A marriage act?"

"The council requests a Marriage Act be brought into effect for one year. If the Queen does not take a suitor to wed by Lurlinemas next year, she will officially drop her title as the Queen."


	10. Chapter 10 - Courting

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 **Chapter Ten**

 **Courting**

Glinda was pacing the floor of the now empty conference room and they were twenty minutes late to start making breakfast. Crope had been reading through law books ever since their conference had finished, scanning through the laws to find out exactly what the laws were. "They can't do that. They just can't. I mean, can they?" Glinda was about ready to pull her out. The stone floor beneath her might as well have been a rut from how hard her heels cut into it. She felt like she couldn't breathe. Her chest was tight and her throat was dry. She had already fought tooth and nail at the meeting to protest such an act, but the majority of the council still voted it through. They decided that because Glinda was in her prime years that it would be best to look for a suitor, so Glinda would have time to have an heir to the throne. Glinda told them it was absurd and had to find every urge she had to act anything other than cordial. "It's just not right, there is no way the law-"

"They can." Crope interrupted and Glinda finally stopped pacing. She walked over to the desk Crope sat in during most of the meetings in the corner of the room. He often took notes and went through the law books during the council meetings to ensure that he and Glinda could work through it. He had his hand marking his spot, "Right here. The law must be thousands of years old. Maybe even as old as Oz itself. The marriage act is a request of the royal family from the Ozma Regime. With a vote passed through all Eminence, the Marriage Act requests that the Royal family chose a suitor for the current or next in line for the throne within a given time frame." He read it out loud, "I didn't even know it existed."

Truth be told, neither did Glinda. The laws from Oz had changed often from reign to reign and it was hard to keep track of all of them. When Glinda took the throne, it was actually her who re-enacted the laws from the Ozma Regime before the Wizard. It was only to create some kind of order out of Oz, after the Wizard's dictatorship she had to get rid of nearly all of the laws he had come up with. Glinda had spent hours reading the books but there were 50 different books with laws from Oz in them and each one of them had thousands of laws, some of which were necessary and some of which weren't. In the years, Glinda spent time going over them to change and fix the problems that Oz had, but it wouldn't be done for years. Still, she felt pretty pathetic not knowing one of the laws that she had put into place herself. Glinda read over the words herself, clear and boldly printed, "There has to be some kind of loophole."

"I can look, but I don't think there is. The only other law that affects it is the fine print, which states that whichever suitor is chosen must be from a prominent descending family. You're lucky Elphaba is the third descending Thropp. Otherwise, she wouldn't even be an option according to this. Even luckier that it doesn't say anything about whether she took the position she was lined up for." Crope said as she leaned into the book to get a closer understanding.

"Crope!" Glinda said, frustration coming out in her words. "I can't just marry Elphie! She just said yes to being my girlfriend. How am I supposed to purpose?" Glinda's hands were flailing around and Crope could see the worry in her eyes.

Crope bit his lip, "At least you have a year.." he relatively mumbled. "There's no way that we'll be able to convince the council to renounce the marriage act. They won't do it. The elders already want you off the throne. They'll use any excuse they can get to take it away without protest from Oz. And if you fight it then you're just going to make it worse. The best we can try is to get them to lengthen your time if they see that you and Elphie are in a relationship at least."

Glinda bit her lip. Elphaba hated politics. She hated everything about the eminence. Glinda definitely didn't want to tell Elphaba about everything they'd have to go through. They would have to announce that they were courting, Elphaba would have to have a thorough interview from the council to deem her a worthy candidate that had no ulterior motives for the throne. If they even got engaged they would have to announce it. Then there's every tradition the royal family had for the wedding and marriage. The only thing she could think that Elphie wouldn't be upset about was the fact that she couldn't be involved in any other politics besides the castle. Other then that, everything was going to be incredibly stressful just for them to be together at all.

"I don't know, Crope. Elphie and I just started this.. how could she possibly know if she wanted to marry me?" By now they had started their walk back toward the dining room for breakfast. Glinda's stomach was churning from having to see Elphaba after everything that had happened. And to make things worse she would have to push back dinner to make the announcement about Animal Marriage.

"You know," Crope stated confidentially.

"What?" Glinda furrowed her brow.

"You know that you want to marry Elphaba." Crope restated and Glinda only tilted her eyebrows more, "You haven't said once that you don't know if you want to marry her. Everything you've said has been about whether she would. You love her, I know."

Before Glinda could respond, they turned the corner for breakfast and everyone looked up when they walked in. The group had already started eating and today they had green pancakes set out for them, which made Glinda giggle, despite everything. "Hey, did everything go okay? You guys have been gone awhile." Tibbett said as he grabbed the syrup.

Crope and Glinda exchange nervous looks, "Yeah." Crope said for her, "In fact, we need to celebrate because starting this evening, Animal Marriage will be legal in all of Oz." He announced as he pat Glinda on the back. Glinda couldn't help her grimace. She didn't want to celebrate. She didn't even want to eat. As amazing as the morning with Elphie had been, she couldn't get over everything that had just been pushed onto her shoulders. She felt like she had to carry the entire world on her shoulders and now they were dragging the one person who could make her feel weightless into it.

Glinda sat down as soon as she could and In all the nervousness and worry she hadn't even looked at Elphie. Luckily, Elphie didn't seem to mind because as she sat down, Elphie linked their pinkies and hooked Glinda's attention. Glinda looked up at her and smiled, "Hey, congratulations." She said, her voice soft and sweet as ever.

"Thank you," Glinda whispered with a smile, their eyes meeting for a moment between them.

"Is there something that we don't know?" Boq asked, giving a little wink to Glinda as he said it.

Glinda rolled her eyes and giggled at the same time, "You all should be the first to know." She said, glancing at Elphaba. Elphaba bit her lip softly and nodded, as if to give Glinda permission, "Elphie and I are courting." She giggled softly when Elphie rolled her eyes at the world courting. It was so old fashioned, but Glinda couldn't help liking it just a bit.

"Thank the Unnamed God," Crope said, pretending he didn't already know and rubbing Glinda's shoulder in congratulations.

"Finally." Tibbett grinned at them both.

"Congrats, you two. I'm happy for you both!" Boq chanted and Glinda blushed.

After breakfast, everyone separated and as much as Glinda hated it, she had to leave Elphie alone to do more work. Between her and Crope they filed all of the paperwork they had to for Animal Marriage Rights and after they were done everything they had to, they talked about the Marriage Act again. There was no way out of it. Glinda either had to work out a way to get engaged by next Lurlinemas or give up her title as Queen; but in her mind, neither of those were acceptable options. The last thing she wanted to do was rush her relationship with Elphie. After all it took her years just to get this far. Crope was right though. She might not have wanted to rush her relationship with Elphie, but it was never about marriage. Glinda had always wanted to get married and Elphie was perfect. Glinda never questioned her wanting to marry Elphie, it was about how Elphie would feel about all of this. And as the hours drew closer to the time of their date, Glinda grew more anxious. They hadn't found a single way to get out of the situation, she was stuck. This was the first time Glinda was thinking about exactly what baggage was coming with her into their relationship. She wondered if Elphie could take it all without running away.

Glinda made quick work of her speech to the public. Over the years, she had gotten used to public speaking and she was comfortable doing so. The crowd only needed to know what was important and that was the fact that the Animal Marriage law was being in the process of ratification. Other than that, news for Oz was rather dull. She had nothing more to say, so she kept it short and sweet and to the point. She took no questions from the public and quickly went inside to get ready for her date. Or well, getting ready wasn't exactly too hard for her anymore. She had simple spells for all of her accessories and makeup. She had picked out a beautiful blue dress that looked absolutely breathtaking against the riverfront background. It was her favorite after all.

The closer Glinda got to the riverfront though, the more her heart began to pound. Her hands were sweating and she couldn't stop biting her lip. She was more nervous than she had been for her crowning. Once she had gotten to the restaurant, she stayed outside and leaned on the grey railing overlooking the river. At night with the moon casting down on it was beautiful. Glinda had always loved coming to spend evenings there with the smell of salt in the cool air. She loved the ships passing in the night and the reflection of the night sky in the waters. In all of her years of stress, this was where she came to calm down. Watching the water his the riverbank always gave her peace. Even now, in her more stressful moments as Queen, the cold air gave her a chance to breathe.

"Hey, Beautiful." Glinda nearly jumped when Elphie spoke, as if Glinda wasn't waiting for her already. Once Glinda registered that she'd been called beautiful though, a blush quickly spread over her pale skin.

"You're the one who's beautiful," Glinda couldn't help herself when she approached Elphie and pulled her in. Elphaba was wearing the most beautiful dress Glinda had ever seen her in. It was still black, but it was strapless and showed off all of Elphie's curves. Glinda pulled her in by the hem of the dress and planted a short kiss on Elphie's lips. She'd wanted to do it all day and she was more than lucky that there weren't any press around to catch it. Though the staff of her favorite restaurant had gotten pretty good at keeping them away. It was the only way to secure Glinda's continual business, that they eventually used to boost the popularity of the quaint eatery with interviews about her eating there. Sometimes being Queen was hard, but everyone knew Glinda wouldn't change it for the world. It was worth it to see young Animals in schools again. It was worth it to see all of the changes she had made and how she had influenced Oz. She loved it despite all of the stress and everyone could tell by the smile that brightened the world when she spoke.

When Glinda finally managed to break the kiss, she looked up into Elphie's eyes and watched the way they shimmered against the water. Elphie smiled down at her and bit her lip, "Wow," she mumbled, breathlessly. Glinda only giggled and took her hand as they walked into the eatery. As she did, she could only wish that she didn't feel the immediate ping in her stomach, as if she was lying to Elphaba already. She couldn't do that. She wouldn't ruin this after it only just begun.

In the eatery they sat at a private table and ordered their food, still giggling and carrying on together. Glinda didn't think she'd ever seen Elphie smile so much or if she did, Glinda never got the chance to admire it. Elphaba was absolutely gorgeous and Glinda couldn't help but stare. She hardly noticed when their food arrived at the table. Elphie had to point it out for her. "Is everything alright?" Elphie finally asked as Glinda stared off into the space behind Elphie's shoulder, "I'm having a lovely time and everything, but you seem like you have something on your mind."

Glinda cleared her throat and shook her head, "I'm sorry. Royalty and everything." She mumbled.

"Glinda, if we're gonna do this, I don't want you to feel like you can't talk to me," Elphie said, reaching her hand on and taking ahold of Glinda's from across the table. Glinda finally gave her full attention then, their eyes meeting, "You can tell me anything."

Glinda bit her lip and looked down briefly, then back into Elphaba's gaze, "You're right." She mumbled. Her stomach churned at the thought of telling Elphie everything. It was all too much, too fast. She couldn't keep it a secret forever, but why did it have to ruin their first date? Glinda swallowed the lump in her throat, "I don't want to freak you out."

Elphie smiled gently to her and squeezed her hand, "I'm not going anywhere, I promise." The promise made Glinda's stomach do flips.

Glinda rubbed the back of Elphie's hand with her thumb, "I hope you never do." She smiled, "but if we're going to be courting, the whole Queen thing is always going to be in the way." She took a deep breath, "It kind of, always does."

Elphie shrugged and shook her head as she took another bite of her salad, "Being Queen is a part of who you are, Glinda. Whatever that includes, I'm in it for the long haul."

Glinda couldn't help but feel like Elphaba had all of the right things to say. Glinda swallowed, "We'll have to announce our courting, at some point, to the public." She said, "And that means the public will be all over it. You'll have to put up with being recognized in public…"

"I think I'm already recognized in public," Elphie said, referencing the emerald of her skin and Glinda laughed.

"People will ask you questions about… well, everything. The council has rules and Oz has traditions about royal courting…" The whole speech made her voice shake. Elphie only held her hand tighter, "They won't want you involved in politics outside of the castle." She said the easiest one first and Elphie only nodded, "You'll have to talk to Crope about how to talk to the public. What you should and shouldn't say, I guess." It was only getting harder to speak, "There's a lot more, but I don't want to freak you out and I'm only telling you because I don't want you to be blindsided in all of this." She was speaking faster now as she scratched at the insides of her wrist.

"Hey, hey, hey," Elphie said, squeezing her hand to get Glinda's attention again. Glinda looked up, a worried glint in her eye, "What did I say? I know what protocol is Glinda. I've heard about it before. I lived in Oz my whole life remember? It might have been all the way out in Munchkinland, but I had to learn a lot of this when my grandfather wanted me to be the Eminent." She reassured her, "I know that politics is involved in all of this, but trust me, you're worth every part of it. I can't promise I'm very good at keeping myself in check sometimes. I can't always help it, but I know you're doing your best and it's not like you're the wizard. You'd never do anything he did. I will learn what to do and we'll get through it together. I promise."

Glinda was still antsy, but a bit calmer now. The majority of the storm was over. She had time to tell Elphaba the truth about everything and hopefully, when they announced their courting, the council would be less aggravated. After all, Elphaba was a solid candidate that the council would approve of. She was the Third Thropp Descending. She was kind and overall she had a good profile in Emerald City. Elphaba was also someone who had always been able to calm her nerves, "I really like you, Elphie. I couldn't even tell you for how long I've liked you."

Elphaba bit her lip and smiled, a blush covering her green skin, "I really like you, Glinda. I want you to be able to talk to me though, alright? I don't want you to be worried about telling me anything. I want our relationship to help you relax. You need to have time to relax. Trust me, alright? You're worth all of this. I promise."

Glinda tried not to blush as she smiled. Elphaba could've sworn her smile lit up the room. Before either of them knew it, they had finished dinner and dessert and they were walking along the riverside, taking the back way back to the castle. They walked hand in hand, laughing over the smallest remarks and blushing every few minutes. Glinda could feel the muscles in her face becoming sore from laughing so much. In the few hours she had spent with Elphaba, even with the worries she had on her mind, she felt more relaxed than she had ever in her life. Elphaba walked her all the way to her room and they stood on the outside of Glinda's door, just across the hall from Elphaba's. "You know, you don't have to go back to your room," Glinda told her as she played with the hem of Elphie's dress. Elphaba had her pressed against the wall next to her door.

Elphaba leaned in and let herself kiss Glinda, feeling the softness of their lips together. She closed her eyes and let her hands fall onto Glinda's waist. Neither of them would ever get tired of being able to kiss like this. Elphaba had never felt so much love and heat in her entire life. Then, just as quickly, she pulled away and pressed her forehead against Glinda's, "I want to come in with you, I do." She whispered.

"Do it," Glinda whispered back, lacing her arms around Elphie's neck.

Elphaba took a deep breath, then backed up away from Glinda's grip, "I can't."

"Yes, you can." Glinda smiled by playing devil's advocate.

"No," Elphie smiled back, "I can't. I want to do this right, baby." Glinda bit her lip at the nickname, "That means, going slow." She kissed Glinda, "We'll get there, I promise."

Glinda sighed with a smile never leaving her lips, "You're right." She kissed Elphaba again, this time long and hard leaving them both breathless. Once she had Elphaba, nearly pinning her to the wall, she backed away, "Goodnight, baby." She whispered, happy with the way she had teased her girlfriend.

Elphie shook her head, rolled her eyes, and bit her lip. She backed away and had to bring herself back into control, "Goodnight, Glinda."


	11. Chapter 11 - Lurlinemas Eve Interview

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Chapter Eleven

The Lurlinemas Eve Interview

After two weeks, three of the most bewildering dates Glinda had ever been on, and one incredibly nerve-racking request for Elphaba to accompany her, it was finally the day of the Lurlinemas Eve Ball in Emerald City. Which meant that the Castle was the busiest it was all year around. Servants, guards, vendors, decorators, and planners were roaming every hall to prepare the night for everything it needed. There were ropes in specific hallways as well as protection spells to keep strangers out of forbidden areas. There were platters of food being made and rushed to long tables lining the ballroom. The ballroom was decked out wreaths and lights all in honor of Lurline herself. There was a live orchestra to play music on the balcony above the ballroom. The sight alone, despite everyone running around, was breathtaking. Then again, Glinda had always loved the ballroom itself. It was a pity that a room so beautiful was used to little. Plus, it was her favorite room in the castle to enter - Glinda had always loved a good entrance and it had the best. From the front entrance of the castle, the green carpet ran all the way up the grand staircase up to where the double doors of the ballroom stood tall between the east and west entrances to the castle.

The ballroom itself was covered in gold colors. The tiles on the floor was an extravagant gold marble with a click to it when Glinda brought her heels against it. Bright yellow chandeliers lined the ceiling, hanging so low that someone standing on the balcony could touch the candles they held. The pillars supporting the balcony ran long green banner between them with Oz's crest threaded into the middle of each one. The wall directly across the ballroom entrance was all glass and pointed directly north over the beautiful grasslands beyond the castle. At night though, the glass walls shown the entire night sky and the moon beyond that. There were also two double door exits on that side of the room, which led to the long balcony just beyond the glass. Glinda couldn't help but stare and only realized she was doing it when two of the guards asked her to move so they could take the piano that normally sat untouched in the ballroom, upstairs to the balcony for the orchestra.

Meanwhile, Elphaba Thropp sat across from Crope in the library, which seemed to be the only place in the castle that was quiet for the time being. Their eyes were fixated on each other in slight nervousness because tonight was the night Elphaba and Glinda would be announcing their courting and their first appearance to the public as a couple. Which meant, Elphaba needed to know what she was and wasn't allowed to say as Glinda's lover. Crope has never had to have this conversation with anyone, but he was happy he was having it. He was told not to tell Elphie about the Marriage Act yet and he was nervous about that. It was a bit of an awkward situation, to say the least. Never the less he opened the book of the traditions he wrote down just to be sure that he wouldn't forget anything, "So," he sighed.

"So," Elphie giggled and crossed her legs. She was most definitely nervous about tonight. She had enjoyed the last few weeks she had spent with Glinda alone. She wasn't sure if she was ready to be put on blast in front of all of Oz, but being with Glinda meant that it was worth it. In fact, with every passing day, she wanted to say I love you, but she knew it was too fast. Her thoughts often grappled between, _we've known each other since Shiz - how is that too early?_ and _We've only been dating for two weeks._

"Okay, I'm going to try to make it quick and easy. We'll just rip off the band-aid and if you have any questions, don't hold back," Crope said and Elphaba nodded in agreement, "Rule number one anything that the castle supports you have to at least pretend to be okay with in public. We want to present a united front. It shouldn't be too hard considering you and Glinda seem to be on the same page, but if you have any issues or questions, bring it up with us in private, Alright?"

Elphaba smiled at the idea of a united front. It made her feel like they all more of a family and she couldn't get over how much she loved that thought, "Got it."

Crope crossed a leg over another and looked back down at his paper, "Rule number two, public names are required. It's a tradition that your majesty and full names be used. Don't be surprised when someone calls you your majesty or the Thropp Third Descending. They frown on nicknames, so don't be surprised if Glinda calls you Elphaba or Miss Elphaba. It's basically a requirement, especially at big events like this. Any of the members of the council request that you put Eminent before their name."

"Easy. We had to do that at Shiz for a while." Elphie added and Crope nodded as he also remembered that.

"All events are black tie mandatory. You have to wear a dress or suit, your decision, but it's a sign of respect for the throne to wear one of them. Table etiquette is important, keep it in mind." Crope was trying to ease them in, "Those are the basics for the royal family, but because you're dating a royal, there's more to it."

Elphie nodded, "I have heard she is a bit high maintenance."

Crope chuckled to himself before moving on, "You only make your entrance with her. It's a tradition that you get ready on opposing sides of the castle and meet at the center of the castle before making your entrance. You will be announced together and that is when your courting will be announced. The two of you will start the dancing portion of the event by having your first dance together, I hope you know how."

"I do, have you all forgotten that despite not taking the role, I was supposed to take a position of power?" She laughed and Crope smiled at her, "I do have a question though." Crope motioned for her to continue, "If the Queen initiates the dance, who did she dance with while I was… away?"

Crope cleared his throat, "Usually it was Tibbett, Boq, or myself. We took turns each year. That whole thing is part of the reason all of Oz seems to be obsessed with Glinda's love life." Elphaba only nodded and Crope could only hope that he eased her worries. He also used the silence as a chance to move on, "Next, we need to talk about what to say to guests. It's important that you act cordially, but it's also important that you answer questions in the best way you can. At first, it will be a lot about your relationship. How long you've been courting, who asked who, the simple things for the press, but it will get harder. Any questions that are too intimate you should avoid. Everyone wants to know about the Queen's privacy and it's not their right to know any more about your relationship than what you do in public." Elphaba blushed when he brought up intimacy. She knew it was something that would be brought up, but Glinda and Elphie had been trying extremely hard to take it slow.

"Got it." She mumbled.

"They'll ask about becoming Oz's newest Queen," Crope said and Elphaba nearly spit out the drink she was holding. Not that their relationship wouldn't end up there, but Elphaba hadn't thought about it, being as they had only just got onto stable ground in their relationship. It was something she wanted, but not so fast. "Try to avoid it. Come up with something that answers the question, but generally and nothing too direct." He took a deep breath and let Elphaba catch up with him before saying another harder one, "Oz is obsessed with getting an heir to the throne." Elphaba's breath hitched at that and a blush spread all the way across her face. Without thinking of marriage, she definitely hadn't thought about having children. Still, the thought made her heart swell. "You do want children?" He asked, "I'm sorry, I have to ask."

Elphaba cleared her throat and nodded, "Yes, eventually." She smiled and he smiled back at her.

"Good. Tell them just that. Nothing with a timeline, nothing about when or if it would actually happen. Just that you would want an heir." Crope looked down at his little book and Elphie took a sip of water. This was harder than she had expected it to be. She had never been a public figure, never really wanted to be, and she definitely had never been a public figure attached to the throne and the Queen herself, "If things get really serious between you two, there will be an interview with at least one member of the council to prove you're not here to undermine the throne or use Glinda for money," Crope brushed over it and spoke under his breath, knowing there was no need to think about it too much, "With an engagement would come one engagement interview with the press where you and Glinda sit down with them and answer their questions. We'll prepare you for all of that when we get there." He was looking over his notes to make sure he got everything, "Oh. One more thing." He looked up when he spoke, "Public displays of affection are part of being with Glinda." He said it as if it was just another piece of business, "Kissing, holding hands, dancing, that sort of thing. The more the public sees you together, the more comfortable they will feel with you in your new role. It's a part of the united front. We want to make sure everyone can see how happy you are together and everyone in Oz wants to see Glinda happy."

"I completely agree." Elphie giggled, but the last one made her stomach twist. The idea of the public watching them so closely made her nervous. The last thing she wanted was to make anything worse for Glinda.

"I think that's every-" Before Crope could finish his sentence, there was a handmaiden at the door.

"Excuse me, sir, I'm sorry to interrupt, but the Queen sent me to help Miss Elphaba prepare for tonight." She was brunette bunny, most definitely a descendent from Bunnybury. Elphaba was surprised she could push the door open, due to its size being nearly five of her.

"Right, of course, you should go get ready," Crope said and Elphaba nodded. She approached the bunny and with a snap of her fingers, Elphaba took them to the west side of the castle where she had to get ready for the Ball.

Crope chuckled to himself. It wasn't often that Elphaba used magic, which he assumed was because she couldn't in the other world, but when she did it was as if it was a part of her instinct. That thought itself made him wonder about the directional witches in general and what Lurlinemas truly meant. According to the lore and religion, he knew, the prophesizes told of four witches, one for each direction. Two of them, the ones who live in the North and the South, were good, and two of them, the ones who lived in the east and west, were wicked. According to that of religion, Ozma herself was the good witch of the south and if he remembered correctly, Glinda served to be the Good Witch of the north, which was where she had gotten the nickname in the first place. After all, she did match the description. A humble girl from Gillikin country, her shoulders sprinkled little stars that glistened in the sun like diamonds. Then there was Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West and Nessarose, the Wicked Witch of the East.

The more Crope thought about it, the more he realized how different the reality had been from the prophecies. Ozma, the supposed rightful ruler of Oz and Good Witch of the South, was nothing more than a mystery to Oz as a whole. Glinda the supposed good and humble Witch of the North wouldn't have been humble or entirely good at all if it had not been from the influence of Elphaba. And Elphie, oh dear Elphie, may have fulfilled the prophesy, but she was nowhere near the witch that Oz once feared. Nessarose may not have been the sweetest girl, but she was nowhere near Wicked. If anything, all four of the witches were only trying to do what they thought best for Oz and got caught up in something too large for them to handle. History was unfolding right before his eyes and it was nothing like anyone had ever would have thought. Though, maybe everything they had been through was necessary. Maybe they had to make it through all of that to get here. To get to the point where only two remained, one good and one evil. Maybe they needed The Good Witch of the North and the Wicked Witch of the West to come together after all of this time to give Oz both equal parts good and evil, yin and yang.

Crope also wondered then, if either Witch was a better Witch. Elphaba had pure, raw talent in witchcraft that she never really wanted to cultivate. She wanted to learn biology, but her powers fell into her lap and she learned to cultivate them because she needed them. Glinda, on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to be a Witch and learn magic and she worked hard to do it. Maybe, when they were back at Shiz, Crope would've considered Elphaba the better Witch. After all, she was born of both worlds and she could read the Grimoire. No doubt she had more natural talent than Glinda, but in the years that Elphaba was away, Glinda spent time cultivating and pushing her talents to the limits. In fact, she was the one who enchanted Dorothy's shoes and the one who fixed Elphaba's mistake of turning Boq into a tin man. If anything and after all this time, they were yin and yang. Neither more talented than the other, but neither more good or wicked either.

The hours drew closer to the night and as the sun dipped down into the west, the royal family dotted their I's and tied ties. All of them were getting ready in separate rooms, but the way they seemed to match each other and the evening, was quite magical. Crope sported a white jacket tux with a gold button down undershirt and a green bowtie. He slicked his curly brown hair back behind his ears and the entire outfit gave his eyes a chance to be recognized. Tibbett, on the other side, wore a black jacket tux with a green undershirt button down and a sparkling gold bowtie to match Crope. Boq dressed in a bright red and glowing tux with a simple white undershirt and spiked his hair up to be noticed.

Glinda, after spending hours deciding, took the chance on everyone invited sticking to a Lurlinemas theme (which they did) and chose to stick out. She wore a long, pink dress with beautiful and elegant flowers running down it from her waist down, where it puffed up. The corset was tight and showed off her curves in all of the right ways. Her heels were six-inch silver heels that she hoped would help her look closer to the same height as Elphaba. She let her curls fall naturally around her shoulders. Elphaba, on the other hand, wore a long and elegant tux that still showed off her curves in the best way. She wore flats to help Glinda match up to her height, knowing that Glinda would try to. She snuck her bunny companion into Glinda's room to find out the color of her dress so she could wear a matching colored bow tie. She had her hair braided back into a long french braid that trailed down her back. The suit dipped down in her cleavage in a semi-respectable way, but also in a way that she hoped would leave Glinda wanting more.

Finally, the time came and from the top of the stairs of the east and west sides, the girls could hear the announcer give off names of the royal family. Boq and a kind girl he had asked to be his date were announced first, followed by Crope and Tibbett and finally, the two girls were permitted to walk their way down the stairs to see one another. Both of them walked down as slowly and gracefully, but with as much speed as they could, to see each other. It was only once Elphaba got down to the first landing and turned to go down the second set of stairs that she could finally see Glinda and when she did, her breath caught in her throat. Glinda was absolutely gorgeous. Her dress was absolutely perfect for her complexion and fit her in the most beautiful way. Elphaba couldn't imagine how she got so lucky to be with the most amazing girl in all of the worlds she had been to.

As she walked up to Glinda, Glinda giggled and smiled at her. They met at the center of the castle and they could hear the trumpets playing on the inside of the double doors. Once they were face to face, Glinda put up a single finger to Elphaba's bow tie and giggled, "Green goes good with pink." She whispered and Elphaba couldn't help the heat that spread across her cheeks, "Baby, you're so beautiful."

Elphaba put a hand on Glinda's cheek and brushed her thumb over her skin, "Your majesty," She whispered back, "You are absolutely breathtaking."

"Now announcing and all rise for Queen Glinda Upland as well as the courting of her Majesties new beloved, Miss Elphaba Thropp of Munchkinland and The Thropp Third Descending." A man over the microphone announced and the two guards standing by the doors pushed them open.

The light of the ballroom nearly blind Elphaba as Glinda linked their arms together and Elphaba whispered, "and here, we, go."


	12. Chapter 12 - Lurlinemas Eve Ball

**Please Review :) Taking a poll for the next few chapters. How do you feel about time skips? How do you feel about flashbacks? Do you want to read the Smut I rated this mature over? Let me know what you want to read/what you think will happen. Will they be able to past all of this? Follow me on tumblr ezrajclarke**

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"Now announcing and all rise for Queen Glinda Upland as well as the courting of her Majesty's new beloved, Miss Elphaba Thropp of Munchkinland and The Thropp Third Descending." The doors threw open and all eyes were watching the empty space between them. The guards pushed the doors to the wall and Glinda lifted her chin an inch higher. For once, out of all of her years doing this, she felt like she had it right. She didn't feel like a widow entering the room with sadness running off her fingertips. She didn't feel cursed to right the wrongs that lost her so many people she cared about. She didn't feel like she was forced to live day in and day out the heartbreak of losing people she cared about. For the first time, she felt like she was proud of everything. She was proud of her girlfriend and proud of everything she had done for the kingdom. For once she felt like she had everything she had ever wanted.

The bright light nearly blinded Elphaba, but as she adjusted to it she could see their faces staring. She put up a hand to shade her eyes and took a long deep breath. She couldn't say she wasn't nervous. After everything Crope had told her, it was going to be very stressful to keep herself in check. If she was being honest, she had never had to. She was always herself and she would never compromise herself for anyone else, but this was different. She wasn't compromising her morals or pretending to be someone else, she was standing tall with her girlfriend to help ease her pain. Glinda nudged her then with her elbow and Elphaba took the hint to get a move on. Slowly coming into the public view was Elphaba and Glinda walking into the room together, as beautiful as ever. Around them, a large crowd of all different races clapped and cheered. Elphaba was surprised by the sheer number of maybe three hundred crammed into the ballroom and she was also surprised by how many different races had traveled all the way to Emerald City.

As they entered, Glinda approached a microphone set up for her just inside and Elphie stayed a few paces behind her, "Thank you, everyone, thank you so much for coming here tonight. I am so happy to see so many different faces and I look forward to talking to each and every one of you. Please, enjoy and on behalf of the royal family, thank you for coming."

The crowd cheered for her and a simple piano melody began to play from above them. Elphaba had heard it before during many different political events and around Lurlinemas. It was the song of Lurline, a gentle piano riff that Elphaba had loved since she was very young. She had even learned it when she was young during one of the summers she spent with her grandfather. As it started, Elphaba put out an arm to Glinda and led her out to the dance floor. The sea of people parted as they walked. A circle formed around the girls and watch them intently and excitedly. Elphaba could see the nervousness in Glinda's eyes and the blush on her already rose face. Elphaba decided to take the lead. She led them out to the middle of the floor and turned around, motioning for Glinda to take position. Glinda smiled at her as Elphaba put one hand on her waist and Glinda put her's on Elphaba's shoulder. Elphaba took it as slow as she could to give Glinda time to adjust to moving in her heels. Glinda was grateful for it as they began to dance and at first, she could feel all of their eyes on the two of them. Elphaba moves closer to Glinda whispered in her ear, "Hey, hey, it's just us, my love. It's just me." Then she could feel Glinda relax in her arms. A few moments into the song, Glinda put her head on Elphaba's chest and she could hear Elphaba's heart nearly beating out of her chest. By the time she opened her eyes again, the room was full of dancing couples and friends alike.

They didn't stop dancing, though. They continued through song after song. There were pictures taken and greetings from guests as they passed by. They were giggling and blushing with each other and Glinda had never felt so comfortable in anyone else's arms. Elphaba was an exceptional dancer, despite hardly ever having a class. It took Glinda all the way back to Shiz, when they first became friends. Glinda felt like she was back in front of all of their friends and dancing with Elphaba when everyone else insisted on making fun of the green-skinned girl. Her cheeks were still red, but for such a different reason. Her stomach was churning out of a similar nervousness, but Elphaba had always helped calm her. Overall, the night was perfect and from the dance floor, she had the perfect view of the night sky. All she wanted to do was kiss Elphaba and take her away from everyone else. She wanted to have Elphaba alone and it brought a heat to her stomach that she was just getting used to feeling. The butterflies never seemed to stop when she was with Elphaba Thropp.

Glinda and Elphaba didn't leave the dance floor until they were forced to by Crope, who insisted they give something to the press. Glinda rolled her eyes on this and couldn't help apologizing for it. Elphie rubbed her shoulders and told her once again that she was there to ease the stress, not create it. Glinda only smiled as they dodged through the crowd, holding hands all the way. Towards the front of the ballroom was a small station set up for journalists, all with notepads and pens at the ready. A few of them were already talking to whom Elphaba assumed were members of the council. As they approached, Elphaba stayed a step behind Glinda and Crope tapped the shoulder of a brunette in a blazer, "Miss Elphaba, this is Miss Jinjur. She's a friend of the throne and a loyal journalist." Glinda told her, loud enough for others to hear even though they probably wouldn't.

Elphaba put out a hand and Jinjur shook it happily, "It's really my pleasure," Jinjur told her as she tightened her grip on Elphaba's fingers, "You two make a beautiful couple,"

"Thank you," Glinda giggled. Elphaba wondered if Glinda would ever stop blushing.

"Let's take this outside so I can hear you two," Jinjur said and before Elphaba knew it she was outside in the cold open air of winter. The breeze was cool, but not unwelcome considering how hot the ballroom had been. The three girls tried to stay towards the west side of the balcony to keep from getting too overcrowded with guests, "So tell me, your majesties," Elphie bit her lip at being called your majesty. She'd never been one for extravagant names, but knowing Glinda wasn't either helped. She knew attending public events would be hard, but she might of underestimated her ability to hold her tongue, "First thing is first, How long have you been Courting?"

The girls exchanged a subtle look of confidence and Glinda answered for them both, "A bit over a fortnight." She said and as she did, Elphie linked their hands together.

Jinjur only nodded and wrote it down on her notepad, "Really? That short of time? What, if you don't mind me asking, makes you so sure of your relationship that you made it known to the public so early?"

Glinda's stomach churned at the question. She couldn't have been surer of anything else in her life. She loved Elphaba Thropp and the need to defend them was strong. She nearly answered in a defensive, rather ignorant tone, but Elphaba answered first, "Our courting may not have been long, but the Queen and I have known each other since we were in school together. I assure you that, though our courting is new, our relationship together is very long-standing and stable." Glinda couldn't help a smile of pure pride when she listened to Elphaba speak. She didn't let the question get to her and she spoke in a perfectly fluent sentence. She even called Glinda the Queen.

Jinjur again wrote it down and looked back up at the two girls. Then she wiggled her nose like she was thinking. Glinda started to grow impatient though, "What's wrong?"  
Jinjur looked at Glinda and smiled, "I'm sorry your majesty, I just don't want to offend you. You know I am loyal to the throne, but I am also a journalist."

Elphie gave Glinda's hand a small squeeze and said, "Don't worry about offending us. If you don't ask I'm sure someone will." Glinda grimaced but nodded along with her.

"Okay." Jinjur put her notepad down against the cold railing, "Does this mean your courting is in for the long run? The press has been well aware of the council pressing year after year for a royal marriage. Will the two of you be producing an heir?"

Glinda swallowed loudly when she heard the words. She had yet to tell Elphaba the truth about the Marriage Act and it was pushing under her skin. She felt like she had snakes running just beneath the surface and she hated lying to her girlfriend. It wasn't right and she couldn't keep it up much longer, "I assure you Miss Jinjur," Elphie piped up and Glinda's gaze found their way to her lovers' eyes. In this light, Elphie's eyes were a sparkling chestnut color, "I am in this for the long run and if I was lucky enough to be the Queen's wife and lucky enough for her to want to have children with me, we would have an heir." Glinda knew as soon as Elphie closed her mouth that she had to tell Elphie the truth, tonight.

Jinjur only asked a few more questions about their love life, then asked a few more about new laws in Oz. She asked Elphie if she had a take on any of the new laws and Elphie only told her that she and Glinda were on the same page. Once they were done, Jinjur put her items away and went back inside. Elphaba could hear the music as the door opened and then it was muffled again when the door fell shut. Elphie looked at Glinda who only smiled at her with all of her teeth. In that light, Elphaba really had the chance to take a look at Glinda. The way her dress flowed down her body, the way her eyes always looked like they were perfection - Elphie wondered how Glinda could always have a twinkle in her eye. "We should go back inside," Elphie whispered, her stare never leaving Glinda's. After a long, silent stare, she turned to head back in, but Glinda pulled her back by her wrist, "Glin,"

"Just a minute," Glinda whispered and pulled Elphaba back into her arms. Elphaba relented and pulled Glinda by her waist. Glinda wrapped her arms around Elphie's neck and they got really close, "You look absolutely gorgeous," Glinda whispered and pulled Elphaba in. The kiss was long and Elphaba couldn't help but the entire world stopped spinning for it to happen. But it was never long enough for just as it started, she felt Glinda pull away and she sighed, "You're right, we should go back in."

Elphaba rolled her eyes, "You are such a tease."

"Can't help it when you look so good I could eat you." Glinda winked and went back inside before Elphaba could respond.

Elphaba took a deep breath, shook her head, and followed her Queen inside. The room was hotter than it was before she left, but everyone was still dancing and having fun. The kitchen crew had brought in their first round of appetizers. Waiters were walking around with trays of different food and drinks. Elphaba picked up a smoking Amber Moon drink off one tray and walked slowly across the ballroom. She watched Glinda as she walked, the way she talked to each guest and gave hugs and smiles to people she hardly knew. She was charismatic and Elphaba had to give her that. It was part of what made her a good politician. As she drank, she could feel magic warm her hands. Every drink served was spiked with some sort of spell to heighten sorcery. To anyone who didn't practice witchcraft, it would probably just increase the rush of adrenaline. But to witches alike, it was a potion. Many magic majors from Shiz were more amateurs than witches spent their lives making potions. It was a true art in Oz to be a witch mixologist and it was a career path for some. Elphaba could tell that whoever they highered for this event was a true mixologist. She could feel it making her fingertips tingle.

Knowing that she'd spent the entire evening with Glinda so far, she decided she'd give anyone a chance to talk to her alone. Crope had mentioned it to her before, the way they'd want to break up the united front. Elphaba figured that now would be as good a time as any. So she walked the perimeter of the ballroom and stopped when she got to a small circle of council men and women huddled in the corner. They were older, but seemed more than happy to be there, "Miss Thropp, we didn't see you there." One noted after she'd been standing just outside their circle for a few moments.

"No worries, sir." Elphaba told them.

"We were just talking about your courting." Another piped back, "We're especially excited to see the Queen pick a spouse."

"As am I." Elphaba smiled coyly to them, her smirk making a few of the younger members of council laugh.

"We had hopes that the Queen would chose someone sooner rather than later," Am elderly man in the back said, "Perhaps the Marriage Act was a good idea after all."

Elphaba furrowed an eyebrow at the words Marriage Act. She may not have known what it was, but she didn't know about it which concerned her, "A timeframe did help her choose a suitor." Someone agreed.

Crope walked up behind her in that moment and Elphaba tried to clear her throat. While the others kept the conversation going, Elphie turned to Crope and whispered to him, "What is the Marriage Act?" Despite being so quiet that Crope could hardly hear her, her voice was still demanding. She was gritting her teeth trying to stay calm.

Crope shuttered. He had a horrible feeling that this would happen and he hoped for Glinda's sake that it wouldn't. He had no choice, "The council enacted it. The Queen must be engaged by next year or she'll lose her title, but it's not what you think." He tried to defend but before he could Elphie smiled and pulled herself away from him.

She curtsied towards the group of council members, "Excuse me while I catch a breath of fresh air." She turned abruptly on her toes and standing behind her and next to Crope, was Glinda Upland. Elphaba, despite her best efforts, could feel tears building up in her eyes. She could feel her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her vision started to blur with tears and her breathing was ragged. Her palms were sweating and the crowds of people suddenly made her feel claustrophobic. Glinda's eyes staring back at her were full of worry and nervousness. She had opened her mouth to speak, but nothing was coming out. Elphaba tried to restrain herself and keep herself from making a scene. Elphie swallowed the lump in her throat and cleared it. She shook her head and whispered, "Marriage Act.." Then, she brushed passed Glinda and made sure to knock her shoulder just light enough that it wasn't noticeable to the public, but Glinda felt it.

Before she knew it she was bracing herself against the balcony rail, trying to breathe and not be noticed. When she looked up though, she had a few people glancing over to see if she was alright. Elphaba sighed, "Can I just, have some space?" She asked in one of the most defeated tones.

They looked back at one another and one girl nodded as everyone on the balcony went inside. She tried to breathe, but all the weight in the world felt like it was on her chest. Her heart was pounding against her bones. She felt like she might as well cough up blood. In her right hand, she conjured a shot from the bar and took it down with a burn in her throat. Her hands were turning red though, a side effect from the magic mixed with her anger. Magic drinks often led to emotional side effects. They blurred the line between magic and emotion. Her hands were red because she was angry, a stark contrast to their usual green. She pulled her sleeve over them and took a deep breath. She had to calm down if she was going to make it through the rest of the night.

She heard the door open though and she could hear Glinda tell guards not to let anyone past. Then she could hear Glinda's heals against the tiled floor of the balcony, "Elphie, I-" but no more words came out.

"Don't bother." Elphaba choked out and both of them could hear her voice crack.

Glinda crossed her hands in front of her, as if she was patiently waiting, "I'm so sorry. I should have told you."

Elphaba scoffed and laughed and rolled her eyes all at the same time, "Told me? What? About the law that says you need to be engaged by next year? It would have been nice." She took a shaky breath and Glinda could see how she tried to wipe the tears away and stop the water from burning her skin. Glinda hated knowing that she was the cause of Elphaba's emotional and therefore physical pain, "Was it real?" Glinda could hardly hear Elphaba speak, "Or did you just want to keep the throne?"

"Elphie-"

Elphaba spoke over Glinda again, "I could've done it for you, you know. I could've pretended to be your wife. I would've done it for your public image, if you needed me to. You didn't have to make all of this up-" She finally turned around and saw the tears in Glinda's eyes.

"Elphaba Thropp, you stop it right now." Glinda told her, "You stop it."

Finally, Elphie let the tears roll down her cheeks, "Stop, what, Glinda? What's the truth? What happened to not being blindsided?"

Glinda took a step forward when Elphaba slouched. The blonde brushed her thumb over Elphie's cheek and wiped away the tears, "Elphie, it's all real. I assure you it's all real." She whispered, "It's all real, baby. This is real."

Elphaba huffed and leaned into Glinda's grasp, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Glinda shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, "I was scared, Elphie. I love you and I was so scared that if I told you-" Glinda paused when she realized the words she said and she bit her lip. Her eyes were like a deer in headlights. She had never said I love you so early on in a relationship.

"I love you too." Elphie told her first, a small smile forming on her lips, "I love you, baby, but that's why this hurts." She mumbled.

"I'm so sorry baby." Glinda told her, rubbing her thumb against her cheek, "I didn't want to scare you away. I'm so sorry."

Elphaba wiped her own tears away and pulled herself together as she realized a small crowd was forming, including some of the press, "We have to talk about this." Elphaba said, "But, not tonight. I don't want this to look bad on you."

"Baby, I don't care what they think. Crope might care for me, but I don't care." Glinda shook her head and wrapped her hands around Elphie's neck, "I love you, baby. I love you so much, I am so sorry."

Elphaba hugged her back, "We'll talk about it tonight, but I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

Glinda pulled out of the hug and she rubbed her hands through the back of Elphie's hair. She wiped away the remaining tears that left subtle burns against her cheeks. Glinda cursed herself for the marks she knew were her fault. Then, she lent in, knowing there was a crowd of eyes on them, and kissed Elphaba on the lips. Elphaba quickly responded by wrapping her arms around Glinda's waist. Elphaba kissed her back, long and soft. "I love you," Glinda whispered when they broke apart, "I love you, Elphaba Thropp."


	13. Chapter 13 - Five Years of Time

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Five years Earlier - days after the death of The Wicked Witch

"You can't just walk away from this!" Crope stormed down the grand staircase of the castle, his arms thrown out to his sides. His footsteps were echoing throughout the foyer. He was only a few footsteps behind Glinda, who was determinedly on her way out. She was stomping, clacking her heels against marble of the floor. They had been talking about the logistics of taking the throne with an advisor to the throne and one of the only people left in the castle who knew the system well enough to help get Oz back in order. They were going over the ceremony to being sworn in when Glinda's hands started to shake. It was one of many panic attacks she had since Elphaba's death. It had only been a few weeks and Glinda was hardly able to stand on her own, nor run an entire country.

"I didn't ask for this!" Glinda shouted back, her arms flailing as she went for large double doors. Around them, they had begun to draw the attention of nine or ten guards patrolling the lobby.

"They want you to be the Queen, Glinda. You can't just walk away." Crope shouted. He stopped midway down the grand staircase, one of the emerald stain glass paintings coloring his skin green. Glinda reached for the handle and Crope shouted louder, "Don't you dare walk out the door." His voice echoed and reverberated against the glass walls.

The young Queen pulled her arm away and turned around to him, still shouting, "I didn't ask to be Queen, better yet, I don't even want to be a public figure!" Crope could see her attempt to keep her voice strong when it was nearly at a cracking point, "This is all, this is- it's too much. I can't do this. It's just not me." Glinda was nearly sobbing and her breath was caught in the middle of her throat.

Crops folded his arms and shook his head, "Not you? All you've wanted since Shiz was to be a powerful and known sorcerous. You told this entire country you would be there for them. You can't just be interim Queen. You can't tell them you'll take the position then change your mind! You should have known what you were getting into."

Glinda closed her eyes and bit her lip. Tears were dripping down her cheeks and onto the marble floor, "Crope, I don't know about any of this. Making laws, politics. I don't have the responsibility to do any of that. I was just a figure, I've never done any of that."

"She would do it." Crope shot back, knowing full well he was crossing a line.

"What?" Glinda practically unhinged her jaw. If it were a cartoon, steam would've been coming out of her ears.

"Elphaba. Elphaba Thropp would've stepped up and done it. She didn't want the eminence, but if she had a chance to make a change - to make real change in Oz, she would have." Crope's words were confident, yet cruel. He knew that every word out of his mouth was making Glinda's skin crawl. When the tears waterfalled down Glinda's face, Crope knew he had gone too far, "Glin, the people of Oz need you. They need a Queen and I hate to break it to you, but you're it. This whole damn kingdom is in shambles. You're an Upland. A high-class family, suited to take the throne. All of Oz is looking up to you, like it or not."

Glinda gulped. He was right. In the order of houses, the Uplands were a high-class family from Frottica. Without a proper lineage, they would look for the next in line in Gillikin country. Her family would be included in that list of families, but she had already made herself a public figure. It was only suited that she take on the throne. It was at this point, her birthright. As tears stained her cheeks, she sobbed, "Elphie would know how to do all of this. She was the Wizard's daughter. It was her birthright. It should be her."

"Don't do that to yourself. The Wizard was unfit, but you, Glin? You're perfect. You know what she would've wanted. You can make Oz a better place." By now Crope was walking down the stairs and Glinda couldn't help but fall into his arms. She was beaten. She had to do this for Oz, but she felt like she couldn't stand on her own two feet. The stress, the grieving, it was weighing her down. So she cried. She cried in Crope's arms, but she stayed in Emerald City.

Present Day -

The royal family spent the rest of Lurlinemas Eve dancing across the floor and talking to the press. The commotion made the night pass and before anyone knew it the ball was coming to an end. Midnight had come and gone and the first hour of the next day was on the rise. Once the food and drinks were cleaned up, Glinda sent all of the employees home and offered them extra pay to continue it in the morning. After everyone was out of the castle, the Royal Family said their good nights and separated to their rooms to sleep. Only, the two girls would not be sleeping because they had a long talk that needed to happen. Elphaba had waited all night to speak her mind and she wasn't going to sleep on it either. It was time.

Four years prior -

"Elphaba, you know we can't do that," Fiyero told her as he walked through a valley of much larger bushes much larger than both of them. Elphaba was staring him down. Her eyes had half dusted moons beneath them. The two hadn't slept much in the year since they left Oz, in fear of the world they had been thrown into. This one was a world where they could've been considered ants to the other creatures that lived there. In this world, they were looking for a safe spot for Elphaba to sleep without worrying about injury. Elphaba had needed to gather her strength. Without enough strength, she couldn't get a portal and a portal was hard enough to conjure. She still couldn't figure out how to control what world they were going to and they had already been two other worlds before this one. In this world, the sun stayed out longer and there were two moons. She couldn't tell how long they had truly been gone from Oz by the way time passed in the different worlds they traveled, just that she hadn't slept in too long. Her face had dark red stripes down it from tears and the burns they left in their wake, "I won't let you do that."

Elphaba scoffed and her nostrils flared. She was easily irritatable, "Fiyero, We have to go back. We have to find a portal and go back. We can't keep going to worlds we don't know. It's absolutely horrid. What were we thinking? We don't know about these other worlds and if anything, we knew Oz."

"This world is not that bad, Elphaba." Fiyero insisted, contorting his tall body beneath a large leaf and getting wet from the water it was holding.

"Are you kidding me? Oz is our home. We can't even sleep here and there's no telling that the next world will have. If we don't figure out a way back, there's no telling we could get back. It just doesn't make any sense." Elphaba stopped talking by now and she could feel the mud sinking into her shoes. This world was wet and gross and she hadn't gotten a chance to bathe in several days now, having no access to milk or oils. She knew time was passing differently than it had been in Oz. She could feel that the long days were passing, the time had been in Oz as well. She wondered if she could find a way to track how much time had passed in the different worlds but she couldn't think about that with the lack of sleep. She couldn't help the tears burning on her face. She had started to put up with the burning feeling because she couldn't avoid getting wet in this world. It was unavoidable.

Fiyero shook his head, "Elphaba, You know we can't go back to Oz. It's not safe. They want you dead."

Elphaba wasn't listening to him though as she went on, "What were we thinking leaving Oz to go to one of the countless worlds out there? Did we really assume there could only be two different worlds? And we left Glinda. Poor Glinda, She thinks we're dead! And she's with the Wizard that damned Dictator."

"Glinda," Fiyero whispered and then said it louder, "Glinda, is that what all this Is about?" He had turned to her now and he was staring her down.

Elphaba Froze in her tracks, hardly breathing. Her heart dropped when he said it. The tears came pouring back over the bottoms of her eyelids. She gulped and tried to clear her throat, "No, I just-"

"Tell me the truth, Elphaba."

"I-" Elphaba felt her throat go dry, "Fiyero, I'm sorry."

His eyebrows softened and he unfolded his arms, "You love her?" Elphaba only looked at him, her eyes giving him everything he needed to know. She was crying after all and the burns were getting worse by the second. Fiyero took a step forward and wiped her face clean of water, "You love her." He said more confidently and it all made sense. He had never worked out with either of the girls. He had never loved them and they had never loved him, "I'm so sorry, Elphie. You know we can't go back." The nickname alone sent more tears dropped off Elphaba's cheeks. She had never felt her heartbreak before now with all of the realization that she would never see Glinda again.

Present day -

"So, tell me what it is exactly," Elphie asked as she leaned on the back of Glinda's door to close it. Glinda walked in and turned around as Elphie spoke. She swallowed and looked up at the ceiling for a moment to keep herself from getting too emotional, "The Marriage Act." Elphie clarified.  
Glinda let her shoulder slump and bit her lip, "The council has been trying to get me off the throne for a while now. A lot of them are older generations who think my policies are too radical for Oz. The Marriage Act is their latest attempt." Glinda explained and the more she talked, the more her heart rate sped, "If I don't get engaged at least to someone of high class by next year, then I have to renounce my title as Queen."  
Elphie nodded and looked down at the floor. She didn't want Glinda to lose her title as Queen, but the thought of Glinda lying to her was still high on her mind, "When did you find out about this? Before or after?" Glinda gave her a puzzled look and Elphaba folded her arms, "Before or after we started courting." She added.

Glinda's stomach churned when Elphie asked and she immediately felt defensive, "Elphie, you have to, believe me, it was after. It was the morning before our first date when the Animal Marriage law got passed." She hated the idea that Elphaba could think her feelings weren't real.

Glinda was starting to fidget and her hands were shaking. Elphaba hated how nervous Glinda looked about the whole conversation. She hated that Glinda thought she would walk out over this and it made her understand why she kept it a secret at all, "And the only reason you didn't tell me was because you were afraid?"

Four and a half years ago -

Glinda was dress in all green, from her earrings to her toes. Her earrings were a treasured jewel of Emerald City - pure emeralds. The dress was a green with gold velvet running down the center. Her heels were six-inch heels. Her hair was sprayed to stay in crisp blonde curls, pulled back to hold a crown. The dress puffed up once the silk hit her hips. She was all dressed up and there was a crowd outside waiting for her arrival. Everything was perfect - except for the fact that she was crying. She couldn't help it. She couldn't keep herself together long enough to do this. The pain in her chest was too strong.

"Hey, hey, it's alright. It's alright." Tibbett was telling her and rubbing her back, "It's alright to miss them. It's a big day. It's okay to be sad." He was saying, but every word he was saying was muffled by the ringing in her ears. Every time she tried to pull herself together she only cried more.

"Let it all out," Crope told her. She wasn't sure how long the boys had been standing there and she was more than a bit embarrassed to be crying in front of Crope, Tibbett, and Boq, "it's alright."

She was huffing as she tried to speak, "I-I need to pull myself together. I can't keep them waiting."

When she pulled herself out of Tibbett's arms, Crope put two hands on her shoulders, "Hey, chin up. You're the Queen. They can wait until you're ready. You're hurting. We all are. We miss them too."

"I'm in love with her." She blurted it out and it caught all three of the boys' attention. Suddenly raised eyebrows and dropped jaws were staring back at her. She huffed and corrected herself, "I-I loved her." Then she was crying again.

None of the boys knew what to do as they exchanged looks between them. Glinda was absolutely heartbroken and they could practically feel it, "I'm so sorry, Glin." Crope hugged tight and all of a sudden all three boys were hugging her tighter than ever.

"This court is now announcing to coronation, Miss Glinda Upland of the Upper Uplands, Of Frottica."

Present Day -

"I Uh," Glinda was near tears, "I didn't want to freak you out Elphie. We just started this. I don't even know if you want marriage and if you didn't than I -"

"Than you what?" Elphaba asked and there was a brief silence.

"Than I'd give up the throne." Glinda resided, her hands shaking more visibly, "Nothing is worth losing you Elphaba Thropp. I love you." Glinda was crying and so was Elphaba by now.

Elphaba took a few steps forward and took Glinda into her arms, "I love you too, Glinda. I would never let you do that." She was whispering in Glinda's ear and gradually the crying stopped, "You should get some sleep." Elphie mumbled, "You need it."

"Will you stay with me?" Glinda whispered into the hem of Elphie's blazer.

"Of course." Except she didn't. The girls got changed into pajamas and laid down and Elphaba held Glinda until her sobs turned into peaceful dreams and she began to snore. Once Glinda was asleep, Elphaba tried to sleep too, but she couldn't. It was a lot to take in and she was having a hard time _not_ thinking about it. So she resorted to doing what she often did when she couldn't sleep and roamed the halls of the castle to explore.

She started in the library, but even that didn't feel right. It felt like she was in a fever dream and that she wasn't getting out of her head that easily. So eventually, she ended up back in the ballroom, alone amongst the aftermath. She walked into the top entrance and out onto the large balcony where the orchestra had been playing all night. She walked straight over to the piano and began relearning the melody she had loved so much for Lurline. She played and played and she enjoyed the echo the ballroom gave back to her. The piano was peaceful and she enjoyed the way it felt against her fingertips.

"Elphaba?" Elphie meaty jumped out of her skin and a few feet off the piano stool when she heard her name, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Crope told her as he walked in. He was in a robe and pajamas himself, obviously still half asleep.

"Did I wake you?" Elphaba asked, her shoulders relaxing again.

Crope came over and sat next to her on the stool, "No, I was having trouble sleeping myself." There was a brief silence before he asked, "Are you okay?"

Elphaba took a deep breath into the depths of her lungs and let it out in a long slow breath, "I don't know," She said, "it's a lot to handle. Lately, I haven't felt like myself. Royalty and all has never been me. Getting married.. it just all feels so fast."

Crope modded in his own understanding, "I know it's fast and it's hard to think about, but you must know that Glinda didn't mean to hurt you."

"She didn't mean to hurt me, but she knew she was lying to me. She just didn't want me to leave." Elphaba sighed as she played a small piece of the melody with her left hand, "It's still lying."

"The first morning after we found you and you came back to Oz," Crope watched as she played, "I came to get Glinda to get to work, but I couldn't find her. When I did, she was standing outside of your door having a panic attack." Elphaba looked up when he said the last words, her eyebrows raised, "Her hands were shaking, she was having trouble breathing. Her hands were clammy and the look on her face - I'll never forget it."

"Why was she-"

"She was scared that you left." Crope hardly let her start the question before he answered it, "You have no idea what these five years have been like for her. You know that she told me she was in love with you four years ago?" Elphaba gulped, fear settling into her stomach. Crope let the words sink into Elphaba's skin before he said anything more, "She's so afraid of waking up in the morning and realize that seeing you here in the castle with her is all a dream. She's afraid to wake up and realize that you aren't in her life anymore." He was barely speaking above a whisper, "She loves you."

"I love her," Elphaba whispered.

"She wasn't keeping this from you to lie to you. She was afraid and you have given her every right to have that fear," Crope insisted and between each sentence he took a pause for her to think about what he was saying, "She'd give up the crown." Elphaba turned to look at him this time, her eyes as wide as the sun, "She'd do anything for you. You have to know what you're willing to do for her."

Crope didn't wait for Elphaba to respond, instead, he started repeating the tune she had been playing. His fingers slid across the keys and played the piano better than Elphaba had ever heard it played before. He played the rhythm over and over and then slouched in his chair. He shook his head and sighed. His shoulders slouched when she looked up at him, "If you don't feel like yourself, I would start with finding something else to do besides be in the castle. Maybe find yourself something to do in the city, a job. Sorcery, teaching, biology, something to make you feel like you're doing something else around here. You've never been anything less than hard working, so start working." Once again he didn't leave her room to answer and Elphaba had a feeling he didn't happen to run into her in the middle of the night either. Before he closed the door, he added, "She's in love with you and if you feel the same way, What are you willing to do for her?"

Than Elphaba was left with the echo of the door against the glass wall furthest away and as soon as she heard it, tears were streaming down her face. She couldn't believe what she had put Glinda through all of these years. The only thing she could say for sure was that she would spend every day making up for it.


	14. Chapter 14 - soon to be vs already gone

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Present Day -

"TROUBLE IN PARADISE"

Glinda read the headline of the Oz Press Tabloid and she sighed. She never thought the press would be able to keep the quibble between her and Elphaba running for more than a fortnight. She also never thought her love life would be on blast for all of Oz to read about. Still, it could be worse. The press could be talking about real politics to give her trouble. They could be talking about treaties with countries beyond the impassable desert and if such a thing is necessary with the impassable desert there. They could be talking about whether Animal Marriage is the best choice of action and how there are still protestors spending their nights in front of the palace. But they aren't. They're talking about Glinda and Elphaba's relationship and whether the Queen herself would be taking her yearly trip around the country to physically see the land she rules over, or if she would stay in Emerald City with her new lover.

Glinda had to admit, that was another question plaguing her mind. She was lucky Elphaba didn't read the tabloids because she knows that if Elphaba had heard about it, she would've asked by now. No, Elphaba tried to stay away from reading about Glinda's political agenda and as Glinda drank her morning coffee, she was thankful. Thankful that her lover waited for Glinda to tell her what was going on because over the last few weeks they had worked hard to regain the trust that Glinda had broken with the Marriage Act. Every morning and every night they would talk about anything and everything they could and Glinda felt relieved that she could tell Elphaba everything, finally. It was a real weight off her shoulders and Elphaba wasn't just someone she could confide in. Elphaba had a real opinion on the matters and Elphaba's opinion mattered to Glinda. Instead of running a country alone, Glinda finally felt like she had someone to help her do it. She had a partner who knew her better than anyone else and the more conversations they had about politics, the more Glinda knew that Elphaba would make a fine Queen herself. Elphaba didn't agree with Glinda just for the sake of agreeing with the Queen. Elphaba never let her opinions go unheard and she was stubborn about them. Often times, they would have debates over the policies and Glinda had never felt more challenged as Queen. And over the last few weeks, the Marriage Act became less of a ticking timebomb on their shoulders and more of just another policy that neither of them cared to think about too often.

So now Glinda was thinking about how she would ask Elphaba to accompany her on a trip around Oz. It had become a tradition that every year Glinda would travel beyond the yellow brick road and see as much of Oz as she could to understand how she could better serve the land she reigned over. It was humbling and Glinda quite enjoyed the travel. But now she had Elphaba to think about. And Elphaba just started her job as a life biologist in Emerald City. To Glinda, Elphaba had just gotten her feet planted to the ground in Emerald City and she didn't want to uproot that, but the trip was important to Glinda. So she read the tabloid and she drank her coffee and she thought about how she would ask Elphaba, later tonight when Elphaba got home from work. She wondered if Elphaba had ever been this nervous to ask Glinda to come to the Emerald City with her all those years ago.

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Seven or Eight Years ago,

"Why aren't you studying architecture?" Elphaba had surprised Glinda when she asked one day, out of the blue. They were in their room back at Shiz, studying for their finals. The room had been dead silence as they sat at their desks in the dead of night, their desk lights being the only light in the room.

Glinda cocked an eyebrow at her green roommate and chuckled. She turned in her chair and looked over at her best friend. Her skin was glowing against the spotlight coming off her desk. Glinda scratched the back of her head and smiled, "I want to be a sorceress, Elphie. I'm not even good at math."

Elphaba didn't look up from the paper she was writing, but she was shaking her head, "You don't have to lie to me, you know," Glinda dropped her jaw to speak, but Elphaba continued, "I sit next to you in math. You have the answers before I do."

Glinda couldn't help the blush that covered her cheeks, realizing only now that Elphaba would never be so confident without evidence to back her up, "I want to be a sorceress," Glinda tried to sound more confident as she pushed out her chest and pulled her shoulders back.

"But why do you want to?" This time Elphaba stopped and stared at Glinda. Elphaba loved to see Glinda like this. In the middle of the night when no one else saw her. When Glinda would put her hair up in a bun and let it be a mess, just for a few hours before they slept. It was the most beautiful image to Elphaba. Elphaba let the question hang in the air before she continued, "I've seen your journal, Glin."

Glinda shook her head and pretended to go back to her work, "I don't know what you're talking about Elphie." She didn't know why she was lying to Elphaba. Maybe it was because they had hardly begun to know each other or because Glinda wasn't ready to accept what Elphaba was asking of her. Elphaba was always the one asking more of her than anyone else had. Everyone else at Shiz was willing to accept Glinda for the brainless, popular girl that she pretended to be. Elphaba didn't. She pressed and pressed until she got the truth out of the blonde. She knew that Glinda had a brain and had thoughts. It just took more to get her to say them out loud.

"The journal you keep in the bottom drawer of your desk. The one with all the sketches in it." Elphaba clarified, "I've seen you working on them in class. They're really good, Glin."

Glinda looked briefly down at the drawer Elphaba was referring to and then back up to meet Elphaba's big, beautiful chocolate eyes. The blonde faked a smile and said, "I don't know what you're talking about, Elphie." Then when back to her work.

"Okay. The hard way then," Elphaba mumbled and before Glinda could ask what she meant, Elphaba was kneeling at her desk and ripping open the drawer to pull out the very journal she was talking about. A brown skinny journal, filled with sketches of buildings and skyscrapers.

"Elphie, no!" Glinda tried to grab the journal out of Elphaba's hand but Elphaba pulled it high out of her reach and opened it up. She thumbed throught the pages of all the different sketches until Glinda finally pulled it back out of her hands and closed it, stuffing it back in her drawer.

"Why are you lying?" Elphaba asked, "You're good at architecture. Why not study it?"

Glinda shook her head and looked back at Elphaba, her eyes all of a sudden open and vulnerable, "I-" she cleared her throat, "My parents wouldn't let me go to Shiz to study Architecture." She sighed, "They hardly wanted me here. They'd rather me go home, get married."

Elphaba shook her head and turned back to sit at her desk, "Emerald City has beautiful architecture, I hear. Have you ever been?"

Glinda shook her head as she sat back down at her own desk, their desk spotlights shining on the two girls, "No, I haven't."

"Maybe after Shiz." Elphaba settled, "We could get an apartment together. Live in the city, I mean."

Glinda laughed and smiled with all of her teeth. Her blush was bright pink across her cheeks, "I would like that."

* * *

Present Day -

Elphaba walked down the streets of Emerald City, having just gotten rid of her third crowd of press for the week. She was getting used to them and getting good at talking to them. Telling them how they should stop focusing on her love life and pay attention to real politics. She found a nice way to say it and for once in her life, the people liked her.

Elphaba couldn't remember a time she hadn't been fighting. Her entire life, all of her life in Oz, she had been fighting. Fighting to get a right to be treated the same as her sister. Fighting to go to Shiz University. Fighting for a normal life while she was in school. Fighting to prove that she was something special. Not just different - or _green -_ but someone important. Then she was fighting the Wizard and before she knew it, she was the number one enemy of Oz. All before she could even blink an eye she was fighting everyone because no matter what - _She knew what was right._

Now. Everything was very, incredibly, amazingly, _different._ She didn't have to fight anymore. She wasn't doing magic spells or saving Animals. No one in Oz needed her saving or standing up for anymore. All because Glinda kept pushing for everything they both agreed on. Glinda believed in Elphaba when no one in the world would. She called her Elphaba regardless of the Wicked Witch. Glinda believed in her when she didn't believe in herself. Glinda did what was right and brought Oz out of it's darkest years and now Elphaba got to help her make it right. They were a team. A partnership. They had it right. Glinda listened to her opinion and sometimes even changed her mind on policy because of Elphaba.

Now, she had never been more thankful for coming back to Oz. She had Glinda, she had the life biology job she always wanted, a makeshift family. She had everything she had always dreamed of. All those years ago she never would've imagined that her life would've turned out the way it did.

* * *

Seven or Eight years ago -

"Elphaba! Elphaba, wait!" Elphaba wasn't listening. Her anger was far passed listening. She couldn't hear her blonde haired friend screaming her name from across the empty courtyard. She was too angry. Dr. Dillamond was the only one in the entire school who understood and cared about her. The only one in the entire school that wanted the same things she did. But now he was gone. Taken away from the school to who knew where, away from Elphaba. She couldn't stand it. She was so angry that she could feel her anger bubbling to the surface. The magic flowing through her hands.

"Leave me be!" Elphaba shouted back as she walked. In the distance of her anger and distraction, she could hear the thunder. She could make it to the dorm though. She knew she could. Just walk a little faster.

"Elphaba Thropp you turn around this instance!" Glinda was shouting behind her and with every step, it sounded farther away. Her hands were burning with magic now. Any sudden movement and she knew she could do something she would regret. She had to go. She had to get somewhere away from anyone. She needed to be isolated, "Elphie!"

Just then, a crack of thunder shook the ground and both girls were frozen in fear. The closest door to Elphaba was forty feet away and going backward was just as far or farther. On the bricks around her, she could see the droplets hit the ground as if they were inching toward her in the seconds. If she ran for the dorms, how many burns would she have? The rain was getting louder in her ears and lightning struck across the sky. Elphaba's heart rate sped as she heard the pouring around her. She closed her eyes and made a dash for it as fast as she could manage. If she ran fast enough... Maybe…

But it was pouring. It was pouring and she could hear it falling all around her, but she wasn't getting wet. She hadn't been burned. When she opened her eyes she noticed the rain falling just in front of her and just behind her, but none of it touched her. "Elphie," Glinda's voice was strained and only when Elphaba looked back at her could she understand why. The blond girl was nearly ten yards behind her soaked by the downpour, but her hands were in the air and outstretched towards Elphie. This is when Elphaba realized that Glinda had formed a bubble around her to protect the rain from hitting her at all, "Elphie, hurry. Inside." The few words were all Glinda could say, having to focus all of her energy on such a small form of magic. Elphaba gave her a small glance, filled with gratitude, and ran for the dorms.

* * *

Present Day -

Elphaba walked through the door to the Queens room with a bit of haste in her step. She had to admit, she was excited to see Glinda, even if she had only been gone for a few hours. She was excited to come home and just as excited to go to work. It was almost as if she had everything. When she walked in, Glinda was laying on her stomach in bed, reading a tabloid and drinking coffee. It was one of the rare days that Glinda wasn't bombarded by meetings or the press. She had the day to spend with Elphaba and Elphaba finished work early to come home for it.

"I thought we agreed that you shouldn't be reading those," Elphie said, grabbing Glinda's attention.

Glinda took a sip of her coffee and smiled longingly at her girlfriend, "Yes, I suppose we did. I can't help it. Did you know we're having trouble in paradise?"

"Aren't we always?" Elphaba laughed as she took off jacket and scarf and hung them by the door before making her way over to the bed. She offered out her hand for the tabloid and Glinda handed it over.

"I've been wanting to ask you something," Glinda mumbled under her breath as Elphaba's eyes started to dart back and forth across the page.

"A yearly trip around Oz?" Elphaba asked, her eyes widening as she looked up from the page.

"Yes, well," Glinda sat up as Elphaba sat down, their eyes intently watching one another, "In the years you were away, I wanted to make sure I was thinking about all of Oz as Queen. I never wanted to be blind to the real issues happening in Oz,"

Elphaba nodded and narrowed her eyes as she took the information in, "So once a year you go around Oz and visit the outer rim. Quite humbling, I imagine."

Glinda smiled at her and then took a deep breath in, "You don't have to come."

"Glin-"

"I don't want to uproot your life." Glinda continued, "You just got a job in Emerald City."

"Glin-"

"I don't want to stop you from doing what you love just because you're with me. It doesn't have to be like that." Glinda was once again rambling.

"Glinda,"

"We can spin it that you want to stay in Emerald City - Keep watch over the palace. You don't have to be with me all the time - which doesn't mean I won't miss you. Of course, I'll miss you, but I hope you understand that-"

"GLINDA!" Elphaba's voice was just loud enough to catch Glinda's attention now. Glinda stopped with a slight cringe in her facial expression.

She slowly looked up at Elphaba and scratched the back of her head, "Yes?"

"I've always wanted to see the rest of Oz."

* * *

Six or Seven Years ago,

Glinda had been crying. Tears rolling down her cheek. Her face was red and puffy and full of tears. Elphaba didn't know what to say. She didn't have the words to fix whatever had been going on with Fiyero and she didn't have the words to make everything better for her friend. She should've known better. She should've known what to do. Isn't that what friends are for? To make you feel better? So why was it that everytime Glinda's heart was breaking, Elphaba had no words to say, but every feeling that came with a breaking heart. So she said the first thing that came out of her mouth, the first words that she could think of that would make Glinda happy - anything to make Glinda happy.

"Come with me." It came out before she had time to think about it - before she had time to wonder whether it was a good or bad idea, _it was natural._

Glinda's words were muffled as she was still sobbing into Elphaba's shoulder, "Where?" It was a simple enough question as if Glinda didn't know where. As if the surrounding train station had all but disappeared to her. As if she wanted to hear Elphaba say it for herself. As if she wanted to know that _this is real._

"To the Emerald City," Elphaba said, this time more confident. This time more confident and proud, as if she _wasn't asking._ She was telling. She was telling Glinda that she wanted her to come. Unannounced to either of them was the reason why, which hid deep between the wreck of events their lives were headed towards. Between the this and that and politics that separated them.

"Really?" Glinda asked as if she had to confirm again and again that this was a truth. A statement. And Elphaba nods, "I've always wanted to see the Emerald City."

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	15. Chapter 15 - A vacation

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Glinda and Elphaba had agreed from day one of their relationships that they would take things slow. And Glinda was trying, hard. She wanted to take things slow. It was what their relationship deserved and Glinda knew that Elphaba was worth waiting for. But every night after their dates, it was becoming impossible. It was impossible when they would come to the end of the Palace hallway where their rooms would part. When they would stop at Glinda's door to the Queens room and Elphaba would hold her hands. When they would stop at the door and Elphaba would kiss her. She would kiss her long and hard. Their hands would roam all over each other's bodies. Glinda would moan when she felt Elphaba so close to her and Elphaba would gladly take advantage of Glinda's parted lips.

Glinda would feel the warmth in her stomach building just as soon as Elphaba's lips touched hers. It was an incessant feeling she had every time they were close to each other. Every night they went out together it felt like Elphaba was teasing her and she couldn't stand it. But every night she let it happen again Becuase when Elphaba's lips were on her neck, she didn't care. Because every time Elphaba had her hands pinned against the wall, she couldn't care. She couldn't care when Elphaba was biting down against her pulse point causing her to let out a louder moan than she had intended to.

Glinda held on to Elphaba's collar for dear life on these nights, pulling her impossibly closer every time she threatened to pull away. Their bodies were closer than Elphaba even thought possible. And Elphaba's hands are all over Glinda's body. On her hips, her thighs. Glinda couldn't think clearly with the way Elphaba's hands were on her. It was rough and sexy and beautiful. Glinda couldn't breath when Elphaba was so close to her. She could smell Elphaba's perfume and it was like Elphaba was all around her. Glinda was overwhelmed by the feeling of it all. When they were like this it was like they were both insatiable.

This had been going on for weeks now. They had been dating for almost a month and Glinda was dying. Every time this happened - every time she got this close to pulling Elphaba into her room and taking everything she really wanted, Elphaba would pull away. She'd pull away just inches from Glinda ear, and say, "Goodnight, my love." And Glinda would practically whimper. And she knew how pathetic it sounded, but she just couldn't help it.

So, Glinda tried to focus on other things in her life besides what wasn't happening. Like their vacation. The two girls decided that they would make the trip around Oz longer than Glinda usually took it. In previous years, Glinda's trip around Oz would have only lasted for two months, but because they wanted to really take time to explore Oz and spend time together, the girls decided to make it as long as eight months. Two months for each country in Oz. It was hard to swing with the council, but eventually, Glinda convinced them. She would still be Queen. She would still be working. But this way she could get to know her public better. Meet people she wouldn't normally meet and see things she wouldn't normally get to. It was a chance to get out of the city and out of the formal territory that the palace came with. Crope, Tibbett, and Boq started treating it like their family vacation and decided they would tag along. Glinda had to work out a schedule with the council and how they would meet. They decided to meet using a foreign style of magic, astral projection, to hold council meetings. In the meantime, Glinda would be free to visit other castles and talk to the citizens of Oz.

The trip would start in Winkie Country and end in Quadling Country. Winkie Country was harder for Glinda and Elphaba to visit, with the revelation of Fiyero being alive and all. It was the reason they wanted to go there first. They wanted to get it out of the way. Winkie country was the lowest on the economic scale and hardly over the loss of their crowned prince. Glinda wasn't sure if they should tell them about Fiyero being alive at all. It would be a lot, considering they hardly figured out a new government situation that coincided with the council in Emerald City. They were getting there. But Winkie Country most definitely wasn't Glinda's most proud accomplishment of being Queen.

That night Glinda hardly slept. She couldn't stop thinking about the events previous to going to bed alone and how bad she wished she hadn't. Then, the next morning, she packed, they got into a carriage the group of them headed for Winkie Country. It was a long road, but all five of them refused to split up and ride separately. So they all crammed into one little carriage that they would ride half way and switch to another one to keep the horse from getting too tired. "Where are we headed exactly?" Elphaba had only thought to ask once they were in the carriage heading out. She knew the larger picture of their trip and the stops along the way, but unfortunately, Glinda didn't have the option of planning their vacation together. There were places she was required to stop along the trip and places that were important for the Queen to visit.

"Winkie Castle," Glinda told her. She was biting her lip when she said it. It was all a bit worrying to her. It had a lot of their past, Winkie Country did.

Elphaba chuckled lightly, "You mean, The Wicked Witch's Castle?" A smirk played on her lips and Glinda gifted her a smirk back.

"Yes, I think I've heard it called that before," Glinda admits, her laugh was intoxicating to Elphaba.

Elphaba's tone was starkly more serious just than, "Can I ask why we're staying in a castle?"

"What do you mean?" Glinda looked up and her eyes were shining in the morning sun. Elphaba couldn't think of a more beautiful picture. It reminded her of the first time the two traveled to Emerald City together.

"Well, isn't the point of this trip to get to know your citizens outside of the royal regime? I'm not sure how you do that from the confines of another castle." Elphaba told her and Glinda almost instinctually shot Crope a look. She wasn't sure if it was to tell him to be quiet or to ask him for help.

"Yes, that is the point…" Glinda said, trying to think of the best way to explain it, "But there are traditions…"

"The traditions you're looking to make null and void though, right?" Glinda knew Elphaba was going to bring it up. And she was right. Glinda didn't want all of the traditions that she and by extension, Elphaba had to deal with. But it wasn't that easy. She was already unwelcome on the throne by the council standards. She had to work around it so she could make change without being impeached.

"Yes, that is true, but I can't just change the traditions of Oz. If I did that, then half of Oz would be against my rule," Glinda wasn't done speaking before Elphaba cut in.

"But I thought you wanted to invoke change." There was tension in the small carriage now and Glinda had wished Elphaba had chosen any other time to bring this up. Still, she wasn't mad that Elphaba had brought it up. Glinda herself hated getting all dressed up in gowns and makeup for a trip that would take hours. She hated making Elphaba get all dressed up and play the formal "girlfriend" because a crowd was nearby. Even more so she hated that in public even Elphaba had to address her as _Your Majesty._ Deep down, Elphaba knew that, but Glinda could see the way the traditions were eating at her.

"I do, but the council," Glinda hated it. She was on the wrong side of this.

"I don't know how you expect anything to change if you won't start it," Elphaba shrugged. As if she could shrug off the tension she was creating in the confined space.

"Elphie…" Glinda started and she could see the way the conversation was getting under their friend's skin. Why was this happening now? Things had been going so smoothly.

"Glinda," Elphaba said simply, "I'm just saying,"

"I'm trying, okay?" It was an overreaction and sounded angrier than she had intended it to. And maybe that's when Elphaba finally felt the tension because she closed her mouth and the carriage went quiet. Only, not having the conversation was almost worse than having it. Because the longer they were in the carriage together, the worse it felt. An awkward silence that lasted for hours. Hours and hours of just long silence. Glinda was most thankful when her group of friends fell asleep. It was the most at peace that the whole ride felt. Glinda decided that it would be best to talk to Elphaba when they got there. No press conference. No Queen duties. Just the two of them. Their relationship was important to Glinda.

Glinda looked out the window of the carriage at the splatters of green of the forest. It was beautiful to watch it all under the shadow of the trees. She watched and stared and wished she could sleep like the others could. She enjoyed the view and after a long while, they were finally at the Winkie Castle. It was up a hill of a smaller village and Glinda had always appreciated how quaint it was to be outside the city. The landscape gave a beautiful view of the fields. Cast in the dome of plasma blue, the grounds were like the picture of a story book. A painting.

She followed her own plan down to the last detail. Without making too much of a scene, she rushed Elphaba to the master suite on the west side of the castle. Elphaba tried to question her, but Glinda didn't dare say a word until they were alone with the door shut. As soon as Elphaba walked in, she whipped around to Glinda, who had her back against the door. Elphaba cocked an eyebrow to ask what was going on.

"I'm sorry." Glinda started, "I want to apologize and I don't want to put you through all of this. I know that the press and the royalty and all of this is getting to you." Glinda approaches Elphaba with open arms. Elphaba kept her arms folded though, "I told you from the start, Elphie. I don't want you to have this burden and I can't in good conscious push you into doing everything this trip will also entail. I will be trying to change the Oz traditions, but if Oz thinks I can't follow them, they'll turn on me."

Elphaba's shoulders slouched, "I know," she breathed out, "I'm sorry, I just-"

"I know. It's hard. It's so much to be in the public eye. I don't want you to have to call me your majesty. I don't want you to go press conferences or interviews. I don't want to push-"

"Glin, it's not that." Elphaba's voice was all of a sudden quieter and more vulnerable.

"Elphie, if it is that's okay. You don't have to come to stand with me or even go out in public when it has to do with the Queen." Glinda sighed. She was pleading and she hated it. But the last thing on earth that she wanted was for Elphaba to be uncomfortable.

"Baby, if I wasn't with you the press would be reporting it," Elphaba said, her face all-knowing and confident. Even in a fight, Glinda didn't know a more beautiful sight than when Elphaba was confident in herself.

"Let them report whatever they want. They don't have to know the truth-" Elphaba pulled her wrist just then and Glinda was speechless by the bruising kiss. She practically melted into it though as Elphaba wrapped her arms around her waist and hardly let her breath.

When Elphaba finally pulled away she stayed so close that their foreheads were touching, "I," she sighed, "I overreacted in the carriage. I mean, I want those things to change, but I understand the tradition and I'm okay with it. I don't mind being your arm candy and calling you your majesty. You are my Queen."

Glinda's heart swelled at the words, but she was still so utterly confused that she furrowed her eyebrows, "I don't understand. If that's true, than what was all that in the carriage?"

"I've been frustrated and it got the best of me." Elphie told her and then bit her lip before saying, "I'm frustrated because… You want me to go to bed with you."

Glinda wasn't very good at letting Elphaba say everything on her mind without Glinda cutting in, "I'm sorry, was I miss communicating the signals, I didn't mean to,"

"No. You weren't," Elphie giggled before continuing, "They were the right signals, but I just haven't- because, well. Frankly, I'm not very experienced with sex. Or sex with a woman, or sex with the most beautiful girl I've ever met for that matter." Elphaba's voice was low and Glinda could feel Elphaba's hands shaking against her waist, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I've been in love with you for so long and I don't want to disappoint."

"Oh Elphie," Glinda couldn't help the brief smile that played on the corners of her lips, "You will never disappoint me. You are perfect." She missed her briefly and continued, "However long you need to wait, my love. You're worth it."

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	16. Chapter 16 - Stargazing

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Hours passed midnight, Elphaba found herself on the roof of the Winkie Castle, gazing up and into the night. Colors floated across the sky in waves of green, purple, and hues of blue in between. They shot around the sky like soft fireworks, sliding between the clouds and brightening the night sky. Clouds filled in above the light and a warm wind blew leaves off of trees. Darkness filled in around her as she watched the beautiful aurora of lights. They were in Northern Winkie Country and the lights were the edge of the Gillikin North Lights that appeared most ever night in Gillikin country. Elphaba had never gone to Gillikin country, but she had always loved to watch them when she had lived in Winkie Country.

She had been there longer then she should have been and everyone would've been wondering where she was, but she couldn't help it. Being in Winkie Country was an extreme change of pace for her and it was taking its toll. Winkie Country was the poorest country in Oz and the carriage ride there was enough to tell Elphaba that things hadn't gotten better in five years. Glinda had informed her that after Fiyero left they had a hard time finding a new ruler. Elphaba couldn't help but feel responsible for the ruin that came of his leaving. Fiyero wouldn't have left if it wasn't for her, even if it was his idea.

Besides all that, the day had worn her out. She had to play arm candy all day and she didn't realize how hard it was to be in the public eye. Since she had to be a public figure, she had a new respect for Glinda doing it for so many years. They met with the newer prince of Winkie Country, one of the members of the council, in front of the press and Glinda had a meeting with him in private. Afterward, they took a tour of the castle and held a press conference about the Queen's presence in Winkie Country. She wasn't complaining, but it had been a long day. When she pictured a vacation with Glinda, she pictured the two of them spending nights together and going on dates around all of Oz. While she knew they would do those, she just had to get used to this being her life. After all, it had only been a month. She would get used to it. She just needed time.

"I thought I would find you up here." Elphaba almost jumped out of her skin when she heard a silk voice behind her.

She turned around to see Glinda, sitting in the window that Elphaba had come out of. Elphie took a deep breath and cleared her throat, "Been there long?" She tried to sound casual, but the muscles in her shoulders were still tense.

Glinda shrugged and pulled her jacket closer in the wind. Elphaba couldn't help loving Glinda in private. The change was a stark difference. Private and public Glinda were both Glinda, but they were still very different. Public Glinda wore elegant dresses and spoke with a sort of traditional voice. Private Glinda wore vests, pants, buns, and giggled more, if possible. Elphaba loved getting to know both sides of the girl and their relationship was going better than she had ever pictured it going. It was something beyond her imagination of their relationship. Glinda scooted down the rooftop to get closer to Elphaba, "Just long enough to see how beautiful you are."

Elphaba swallowed and scratched the back of her neck, "You're such a liar," She mumbled the words like a mantra told to her over and over again. She had never really believed anyone when they called her beautiful, though Glinda had always gotten her close to believing.

Glinda smirked as if watching a fond memory before her eyes. It was a smirk Elphaba had learned came with her sparkling personality and one that Paige wanted to be the reason behind. Then the smile faded and she nudged her shoulder, "I would never lie to you." It was more serious than Glinda sounded when she was signing a treaty. It was the most honest Glinda ever felt. Elphaba rolled her eyes and Glinda turned her attention to the northern lights, "I used to watch them every night from my balcony back home."

"I watched them every night from here back when…" Elphaba's voice trailed off and both of them knew that she was talking about being the Wicked Witch. Those times were still harder to talk about sometimes.

Glinda's smile dropped to a straight light and dented her eyebrows toward her nose, "I know that today was really long. I appreciate you spending the whole day with me." Her smile was contagious and Elphaba couldn't help herself but smile too, "I can't thank you enough for putting up with all of this for me."

Elphaba bit her lip and looked up into Glinda's eyes, "I'd do anything for you." She practically mumbled it, but Glinda could've heard her from a mile away.

Glinda placed a hand on her thigh and gave her a reassuring smile, "I'm sorry they didn't allow you into the meeting with the prince."

"That's okay, I got to see Fiyero's memorial instead." Glinda didn't think Elphaba's voice could get lower, but it did. The tension was out in the air, but even in their hardest moments, Glinda knew it would get better. Neither of them were going anywhere.

"I'm so sorry, Elphie. I know you'd rather tell them the truth, but if we tell them Fiyero is alive than they'll just revolt against the new prince. You know Fiyero never wanted to be Prince." Glinda rubbed her shoulder and Elphaba nodded, "And It's not okay. I want you to be involved in everything and when we get married-" She stopped immediately after saying it and there was a long silence between them, both girls blushing over the words. Finally, she said, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Elphie asked her lips on the edge of a smirk, not that Glinda noticed. By now she was too busy admiring the dirt inside the gutter beneath them.

"We just started dating, I shouldn't have said that." Elphaba hated Glinda's sad look. It was like looking at animals who had been abused.

Elphaba reached over to grab Glinda's hand and Glinda looked up at her. Her eyes were shimmering. Elphaba could only compare them to the colors in the night sky or the stars floating across the universe. Glinda was absolutely gorgeous. Elphaba had never felt so lucky in her entire life, "What do you date for if not to get married?" Elphie asked and Glinda rose both her eyebrows. All those years ago in Shiz, Glinda never would have thought that Elphaba would have even been interested in marriage. Elphaba at Shiz would have told her that it was a social construct created by the patriarchy to combine kingdoms. Maybe she still thought that, but this Elphaba - here and now - loved Glinda and would do anything for her. And Glinda? She had always dreamt of the perfect wedding with the perfect person. Not because her parents wanted her to get married, but because she was in love. And this was it.

"You really mean that, Elphie? You aren't just doing it because of that stupid little piece of paper? 'Cuz-" Glinda was starting to over think it again.

"I mean it, Glin." Elphaba explained, her voice louder and more serious than before. Glinda only smiled and leaned into Elphaba, who put an arm around the blonde. Together they laid back and watched the stars.

That is until Glinda couldn't stand the silence any longer. "The Prince wants to hold a ball in our honor for visiting. He wants to invite the rest of the council members in Winkie Country to see them in person here at the castle." She said and took a pause before adding, "And Crope wants us to spend more time in public together so Oz can get to know you. He wants them to trust you so you don't have trouble on the throne."

Elphaba took a deep breath and nodded, "It sounds like Crope is good at his job."

"It sounds like you're avoiding the question," Glinda giggled, "I can't have you disappearing on me all the time."

Elphaba closed her eyes, finally comfortable enough to fall asleep, "You got it. No more disappearing."


	17. Chapter 17 - A Perfect Night

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Glinda and Elphaba stumbled into the room, lips pressed against one another, losing articles of clothing along the way. At first, it had only a soft brush against Elphaba's lips on their way inside - just coming back from the Ball that the Prince of Winkie Country had put on for them. The night couldn't have gone more perfectly. They had spent every second together and even though the press was involved, the two had found a way to enjoy themselves just because they were together. They ate dinner, they talked, they danced. It was everything Elphaba had always wanted to give Glinda and all Glinda had ever hoped they would obtain by being together. And it wasn't such a bad thing that the public got a view of them being their true, authentic selves. The press loved it. They couldn't get enough of the girls kissing, holding hands, smiling. This was the couple all of Oz needed. Something strong, stable, but still independent and confident. Glinda gave a speech and Elphaba led them through the first dance of the night. Everything was absolutely perfect, including the end of the night.

It sent shivers down her spine at the way Glinda's lips were the only warmth in the cold of the winter storm. Then it was an all of a sudden more intense - swift with gradation and absolutely _need_. Elphaba felt dizzy and at the moment, nearly falling over when she forgot that standing was something she had to do. Glinda was insistent and every time their lips touched it was harder and with even more devotion. Even the sound of the ice against the window was lost to Elphaba's ears as Glinda swept her tongue against her bottom lip.

Elphaba almost immediately gave her entry and from that moment on Glinda gave her an onslaught of kisses, parting her lips wider each time. Elphaba had never felt more electricity from a kiss in her life. The world and Elphaba's mind - everything she had been thinking about before - was all but silenced. Elphaba was vulnerable and unimaginably shocked, so much so that she _couldn't_ stop it even _if_ she wanted to and she couldn't _ever_ imagine wanting to. The mere action of Glinda Upland kissing her made her heart beat out of her ears.

Their kisses were sloppier than usual and more frantic and in more need than anything other time they had kissed in months. In the heat of the moment, Elphaba pushed Glinda on the bed and found herself straddling her blonde girlfriend, their lips hardly breaking apart. "You make, me, so happy" Elphaba mumbled, out of breath, against Glinda's lips as they continued.

"I've never been so happy." Glinda huffed as Elphaba kissed her cheek, her neck, her collarbone...

Glinda hummed when Elphaba reached her collarbone. Elphaba listened to her girlfriend's amusement and suddenly the moment was more sobering just to hear Glinda's moan. She tried her best to pay it close attention to how her movements made Glinda elicit such beautiful sounds. She never wanted to forget how to give Glinda such a pleasure, "I don't know what I'd do without you." She said, stopping for a brief moment and looking into Glinda's eyes. Then, opening her eyes, Glinda joined her in the sobering moment, and she smiled impossibly wider than she ever had when Elphaba paid her a compliment.

Almost immediately though, her smile turned into a wide grin as Glinda used the moment to her advantage. With rapid action, Glinda kicked Elphaba off balance and spun them around to switch positions. Elphaba bit her lip as Glinda pinned her to the bed. Elphaba tried to get free, but Glinda had the leverage above her, "Me either." Glinda giggled and leaned in again.

Glinda was practically jumping on her, her hands gripping Elphaba's wrists tight enough to leave marks, and Glinda kissed her, hard. Elphaba's back sunk into the bed as Glinda pushed further and Elphaba wanted nothing more than to touch Glinda. Once, twice, Glinda hardly gave her time to breath. As Glinda kissed across her skin and back up to her lips, she left a trail of emerald goosebumps behind as she went.  
Suddenly, Elphaba was kissing Glinda harder with a strong, _burning_ need. She swept her tongue over Glinda's bottom lip and Glinda couldn't think or do anything other than _give in_. The blonde moaned to give her access. This time the kiss is messier and more in need of one another. This time the kiss is soft and gentle but full of every feeling Glinda never feels like she can explain. So she puts everything she has into it. She tries to say tell her lover how absolutely in love with her she is in the way her lips move against Elphie's. Neither girl ever wants this to end.  
Elphie's tongue slips inside of her mouth and she's isn't even ashamed at the way she moans. They're tongues mesh and Elphaba moans too. When Elphaba finally breaks the kiss and they're both breathless and panting.

" _Oz._ " Elphaba breathed, trying her hardest to push up in a revolt of Glinda's strength.

Glinda pushed Elphaba back down on the bed, "Shut up. You love it." Glinda's lips grazed Elphaba's neck and Elphaba practically melted into it.  
Involuntarily, Elphaba grabbed a hold of the bed sheets and tightened her grip on the seams. The world slowly became a blur as Glinda made her way down the green girl's stomach, kissing up and down her body as slow as she could make herself go. They had never gone this far with the lack thereof clothes and it was hard for Glinda to restrain herself enough to give Elphaba time to adjust to each and every maneuver. Instead of working her way towards her real _goal_ Glinda tried to focus on this moment and tried to memorize every piece of it - she _never_ wanted to forget how this felt.

Panting beneath Glinda, with her chest rising and falling rapidly, Elphaba Thropp was more beautiful than Glinda had ever seen her. Her emerald skin shimmering with sweat and her hands shaking with anticipation and _need_. The room smelled distinctly of sex and Glinda never wanted to leave it. She was absolutely mesmerized by the girl she was straddling. And With every touch of Glinda's hand, Elphaba became thoroughly aware and even more sensitive with the brisk air. Glinda continued to tease her with kisses as she could feel Elphaba's heart beating out of her chest.

"I love you." Elphaba huffed her eyes watching Glinda because it was the only possible action she had without being able to use her hands. Glinda loved the look she was getting too - the way Elphaba's eyes were hooded with intense anticipation of the moment. The way her eyes were staring, unblinking, and beautiful with lust.

But with all the staring, Elphaba was all of a sudden became too aware of her surroundings. "Glin." Elphaba's voice dropped octaves and Glinda wasn't listening as she kept kissing, further down Elphaba's chest. Elphaba could hardly form words as Glinda reached her chest and started _sucking,_ "mm, Babe," Elphaba moaned before regaining her voice and practically yelling this time, "Glinda!"

"What?" Glinda swallowed as she looked up, this time praying that Elphaba didn't want this to stop. All Glinda could think is that she would die if they had to stop now. _Please, not now. This is perfect. Please._

"Glinda, we're in Boq's room." She said, eyes wide and her eyebrows raised. Glinda furrowed her brow and looked around the room, suddenly realizing that she was right - this wasn't the master bedroom and they weren't even on the west side of the castle. They were much farther away from their bedroom and Glinda couldn't even believe that they had gotten so lost. Though, to be fair, Glinda wasn't _exactly_ thinking about getting to their room when they got home.

Glinda couldn't help but laugh when she looked around, realizing the real fact that Elphaba had pointed out. She laughed and laughed and Elphaba couldn't help herself but join in. They laughed and laughed and giggled to themselves and Glinda kissed Elphaba on the lips again. "Well," She smiled, deviously. "I won't say anything if you don't."

Elphaba smiled nervously, unable to fight her girlfriend, who was up and locking the door before she could protest. Elphaba watched her girlfriend saunter back over to her and pushed her back down by the shoulders. Elphaba couldn't help but _give in_ as Glinda straddled her again, this time giving Elphaba the ability to use her hands - and Elphaba had every intention of using them.


End file.
